Fugitive Amritpal Singh arrested from Punjab's Rode village; taken to Assam's Dibrugarh jail

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 23

Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh, who has been on the run since March 18, was on Sunday arrested by the Punjab Police in Moga district. Addressing a media conference here, IG Sukhchain Singh Gill, who is the spokesperson of Punjab Police, said police maintained relentless pressure for 35 days to catch Amritpal.

The Punjab Police have already invoked the stringent NSA against the pro-Khalistan activist.

Amritpal was taken to Assam's Dibrugarh jail, where eight of his aides are already being held under the National Security Act (NSA).

The IG said Amritpal was arrested at 6:45 am from Rode. “We had special inputs that he was hiding in Rode village gurdwara. Police had surrounded the village but we didn’t enter the gurdwara as the maryada of a religious place is supreme for us. Amritpal courted arrest as he had no place to run," said Sukhchain Singh.

Punjab Police, its Intelligence wing, as well as local units from Amritsar Rural and Moga were involved in the operation, he added. No one other than Amritpal was arrested today, he revealed. “He is being taken to Dibrugarh, Assam, and further action will be taken as per the law,” said the IG.

The Punjab Police had launched a crackdown on Amritpal and members of his outfit 'Waris Punjab De' on March 18, a month after his supporters stormed a police station in Ajnala.

The pro-Khalistan activist was on the run for 36 days.

Several cases have been lodged against Amritpal and his associates for allegedly spreading disharmony, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and obstructing the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.

In February, Amritpal Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into the Ajnala Police Station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of one of his aides. His wife Kirandeep Kaur was stopped at the Amritsar airport by immigration officials on Thursday while she was trying to board a flight to London. Amritpal Singh tied the knot with UK-based Kaur in February this year.

Amritpal Singh had earlier escaped the police dragnet twice -- first on March 18 in Jalandhar district by switching vehicles and then again on March 28 in Hoshiarpur when he returned to Punjab along with his key associate Papalpreet Singh.

Papalpreet, who is considered to be Amritpal's mentor and who has allegedly been in contact with Pakistan's ISI, has been arrested.

While on the run, two videos and one audio clip of Amritpal Singh had surfaced on social media. In one of his two videos, which surfaced on March 30, Amritpal Singh had asserted that he was not a fugitive and would soon appear. 

The pro-Khalistan activist had claimed that he was not like those who flee the country.

The Jathedar of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, had asked the preacher to surrender before the police and cooperate with the investigation.

Recently, Punjab Police had pasted posters of Amritpal Singh at railway stations in Batala and Amritsar, announcing that an appropriate reward will be given to anyone who provides credible information about his whereabouts.

On April 15, police managed to nab Amritpal Singh's close aide Joga Singh from Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib. According to them, Joga Singh was in direct contact with Amritpal and had even arranged a shelter and vehicles for him in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit.

It was Joga Singh who brought Amritpal and his aide Papalpreet back to Punjab on March 28.

Nine of Amritpal's aides -- Daljit Singh Kalsi, Papalpreet Singh, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Varinder Singh Johal, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala, Harjit Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Basant Singh and Gurinderpal Singh Aujla -- have been lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam and charged under the stringent National Security Act.

Amritpal Singh was last year anointed the head of 'Waris Punjab De', the organisation founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu. 

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