DGP blames jailed MP Amritpal Singh, 2 Canadians for Faridkot murder
The Punjab Police today named jailed pro-Khalistan leader and Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, along with two persons based in Canada, for the October 9 killing of Sikh activist Gurpreet Singh at Hari Nau village in Faridkot.
Amid the worsening of ties between India and Canada, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said Canada-based Karamveer Singh, alias Gora, and gangster-terrorist Arshdeep Dala were the handlers of the four shooters who killed Gurpreet.
The DGP said Gora and Dala were in regular contact with the shooters. He said three individuals involved in the murder had been arrested while the police were on the lookout for the four shooters.
Crucial evidence
It’s not a mere allegation or suspicion by the victim’s family. We have crucial evidence. It’s a multi-layered conspiracy. Gaurav Yadav, Punjab DGP
“The group was planning more killings. The murder was carried out at the behest of Amritpal, currently lodged in Dibrugarh jail, while the Canadian handlers planned and executed the killing,” said Yadav. Victim Gurpreet was once a close friend of Amritpal in Dubai. Gurpreet was among the nine primary members who had founded Waris Punjab De, a Sikh political group, under the leadership of actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu in September 2021. In March 2022, a month after Deep Sidhu’s death in an accident, Amritpal became the president of the outfit.
Gurpreet had supported the fight for justice for Krishan Bhagwan Singh, who protested sacrilege incidents and died in the Behbal Kalan police firing incident in October 2015. The DGP said those arrested had been identified as Bilal Ahmed, alias Fauji; Guramardeep Singh, alias Pontu; and Arshdeep Singh, alias Jhandu. Yadav said different modules were used for conducting reconnaissance and executing the murder, with separate handlers based abroad. He said the criminals used “cut-outs” (one module members didn’t know the identity of the other module) to mask the conspiracy.
“The three arrested individuals were part of the reconnaissance module, handled by Canada-based Karamveer. The reconnaissance module passed on crucial information to the shooter module through their handlers and ‘cut-outs’,” he said.
Sharing operation details, the DGP said acting swiftly, a special investigation team (SIT) comprising police officials from Faridkot and State Special Operations Cell was constituted, and separate teams were assigned the tasks of visiting the crime scene and collecting physical and digital evidence. He said the CCTV footage at the crime scene was examined and teams were deputed to follow the forward and backward linkages to determine the entry and exit routes of the assailants.
“Meticulous investigations by the Faridkot district police led to the analysis of CCTV footage along a 125-km stretch, which helped the police establish the movements of the suspects and develop leads,” he said. Mobile tower dumps at strategic locations were obtained and analysed using big data analysis tools.
“At the same time, human intelligence was also gathered and developed. A large number of individuals were questioned and contact was established with persons based abroad to glean intelligence,” he said.
The DGP said terror groups had been trying to recruit juveniles for criminal activities. “As in the case of Sarhali blast and the RPG attack at the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali, this terrorist and other groups are recruiting juveniles or teenagers to carry out strikes in the lure of money and on the promise of settling abroad,” he said.
Victim was treasurer of Waris Punjab De
- Gurpreet was the treasurer of Waris Punjab De
- Developed ideological differences with Amritpal
- Even put up several social media posts against him
- The DGP said he received death threats several times
