Pro-Khalistani leader and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh. File.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh who has been booked under National Security Act has been arrested from Punjab’s Moga, police said on April 23. Amritpal’s arrest comes a month after the police launched a massive crackdown against him and his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’.
According to PTI police further said he would be sent to Assam’s Dibrugarh jail .“He is an NSA subject and will be taken to Dibrugarh,” the officer told PTI.
On March 18 the Punjab Police arrested 78 persons and launched a hunt for Amritpal in connection with multiple criminal cases. The crackdown came almost over three weeks after Amritpal’s supporters stormed Ajnala police station in Amritsar on February 23, demanding the release of one of his aides, Lovepreet Toofan.
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Since then authorities have detained a number of close aides of the radical preacher. Two more aides of the fugitive radical preacher and Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh were arrested at Mohali in Punjab, in a joint operation by Punjab and Delhi Police on April 18. On April 15, Punjab Police arrested his close aide Joga Singh from Sirhind in the Fatehgarh Sahib district. Another close aid of the pro-Khalistani leader, Papalpreet Singh was arrested on April 10, in an operation conducted by Punjab Police and its counter-intelligence unit.
Only three days ago, Amritpal’s wife Kirandeep Kaur had been restricted from boarding a flight from Amritsar to U.K.
The police had been following Amritpal’s trail across States as CCTV footage of the fugitive fleeing on motorcycle emerged. According to police, Amritpal escaped in the afternoon of March 18 on the Shahkot-Malsian Road in Jalandhar, switched to another car and went to a “gurdwara” where he stayed for about 45 minutes, during which he changed his clothes, and then drove away on the motorcycle that was later seized.
Indian authorities had even reached out to Nepal on March 28, saying that Amritpal was “ believed to be hiding in Nepal and could use his own Indian passport or that of another country to escape through Nepal.” The Indian Embassy had asked Nepali authorities not to permit him to travel through the country, and to inform immigration officials if they apprehend him.
Earlier on Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah when asked about Amritpal Singh’s arrest and that he has been absconding for a long, said, “It may happen sometime. Earlier he used to roam freely, but now he cannot carry on with his activities.”.
(With inputs from agencies)