Cornered Amritpal Singh surrenders, arrested
Jupinderjit Singh
Chandigarh, April 23
Pro-Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh, who had been on the run since March 18, was finally arrested on Sunday by the Punjab Police from Rode village in Moga.
Inspector General of Police Sukhchain Singh Gill, addressing a press conference here, said the police had maintained relentless pressure on the fugitive for over a month, leading to his arrest. The separatist had escaped the police by a whisker many a time during this period. Two days ago, the police had not allowed his wife Kirandeep Kaur, a British national, to board a flight from the Amritsar airport to the UK.
Had sealed all escape routes
We surrounded the village but didn’t enter Rode village gurdwara. Amritpal courted arrest. He had no place to run. —SS Gill, IGP
Stooge in hands of anti-India forces
Law is taking its own course. He is a stooge in hands of forces inimical to the state and country. No action is being taken against the innocent. —Bhagwant Mann, Punjab CM
The IGP said the fugitive was arrested around 6.45 am after police personnel surrounded him, leaving him no channel of escape. With the National Security Act (NSA) slapped on the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief, he was taken to the Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam where nine of his aides are already in custody under the stringent Act.
There are, however, contradictory claims over the arrest as Jasbir Singh Rode, nephew of late Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, alleged that Amritpal had surrendered. Amritpal, too, in a video message released after his arrest, said he was courting arrest.
The IGP, however, said the police had surrounded Rode village since midnight. “We had inputs that he was hiding in the village gurdwara. The police had surrounded the village but we didn’t enter the gurdwara, respecting the maryada of a religious place. Amritpal courted arrest as he had no place to run,” said Gill.
The Punjab Police and the Intelligence wing were involved in the operation, the IGP said, adding further action would be taken as per law.
The Punjab Police had launched a crackdown on Amritpal and members of his outfit Waris Punjab De on March 18, over three weeks after his supporters stormed a police station in Ajnala. 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. Amritpal had escaped the police dragnet twice. First, on March 18 in Jalandhar district by switching vehicles, and then 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, was arrested on April 10.
While on the run, two videos and one audio clip of the separatist had surfaced on social media. In one of the videos which surfaced on March 30, Amritpal had asserted that he was not a fugitive and would soon appear.
The Jathedar of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, had asked the Khalistan activist to surrender before the police and cooperate with the investigation.
Recently, the police had pasted posters of Amritpal at railway stations in Batala and Amritsar, announcing an appropriate reward for credible information about his whereabouts.
On April 15, the police managed to nab the fugitive’s aide Joga Singh from Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib. Joga was in contact with Amritpal and had even arranged lodging and vehicles for him in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit. It was Joga who had brought the fugitive 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 – are lodged in Dibrugarh jail under the NSA.
37-day chase
March 18, 2023: Punjab Police launch crackdown against Amritpal and his aides; his cavalcade intercepted in Mehatpur (Jalandhar) but he escapes; seven aides arrested
March 19: Amritpal and his accomplice Papalpreet spotted in Shahkot, Phillaur, Ludhiana, Patiala
March 20: Uncle Harjit Singh and driver surrender in Shahkot
March 21-25: Travels to Delhi, Pilibhit (UP) and Uttarakhand, but unable to cross over into Nepal
March 26: Reaches deras of Baba Nidhan Singh in Phagwara and Hoshiarpur, stays there for two days
March 28: Punjab Police chase Amritpal, Papalpreet in Phagwara and Hoshiarpur, both escape
March 29: Amritpal releases his first video message since escape
March 30-31: The fugitive stays at a lawyer’s house at Babak village, releases an audio message
April 10: Papalpreet arrested from Kathu Nangal in Amritsar
April 11-14: Security up at several gurdwaras in Punjab over likely surrender around Baisakhi
April 15: Another aide Joga Singh arrested from Sirhind
April 21: Wife Kirandeep stopped from flying to UK at Amritsar airport
April 23: Amritpal held at 6.45 am from a gurdwara at Rode in Moga
