‘Waris Punjab De’ head and self-proclaimed preacher Amritpal Singh and his associates were all geared up to create a separate Sikh nation — Khalistan. Raising his private militia — Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF), Amritpal and his team had already finalized the “emblem, logo, and flag” of the proposed Khalistan state, along with the flags of several provinces, “map of Khalistan”, and the currency.

The startling revelations were made by the police on Friday a day after Amritpal’s close aide and his gunman Tejinder Singh Gill alias Gorkha Baba was arrested, and the police recovered several sensitive and incriminating videos and pictures from his mobile phone.

“The incriminating material shows the sinister designs of this nascent militia force and the enormous threat they would have become for peace and harmony of Punjab and national security,” read the statement released by Khanna district police on Friday.

Even as the Khalistan ideologue continued to elude police since it began a crackdown against him and his Waris Punjab De outfit on March 18, several of his alleged aides are in police custody, with seven, including Amritpal, facing the stringent National Security Act (NSA).

The videos, pictures, and messages, released by the Khanna police on Friday, also show aides of Amritpal carrying weapons, wearing bulletproof jackets with ‘AKF’ written on it, doing arms training at some isolated place near Jallupur Khera village in Amritsar. Videos also show Gorkha Baba resorting to martial training while keeping a large number of weapons in the background, some others can also be seen cleaning and assembling weapons.

In one of the videos, a WhatsApp group, in the name of AKF, is shown in which a voice message of one of the members can be heard talking about the purpose of creating the group and the AKF, and clarifying that only the selected ones are made members in that group.

Khanna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amneet Kondal, sharing all details with the media, said that the recoveries from Gorkha Baba’s phone include ‘state emblem, map and logo of proposed Khalistan state, currency bills of 10 Khalistani dollar with slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale’s picture, AKF logo, and videos of firing practice at makeshift firing range at Amritpal’s village’.  The “Khalistan flag” had some Urdu words on it, she added.

A driving license of a Pakistan national was also recovered, said SSP Kondal.

Forty-two years old Gorkha Baba, hailing from Mangewal village in Ludhiana district, was arrested on Thursday. A member of AKF and one of the alleged gunmen of Amritpal, Gorkha Baba revealed during the investigation, that all members of AKF were assigned belt numbers, for instance, AKF 3, AKF 56, AKF 47, etc — perhaps based on their seniority or proximity to Amritpal Singh; and were also given salaries, said the police.

SSP Kondal said several videos of Gorkha Baba were recovered from his phone in which he was seen loading weapons and practicing firing, videos and pictures of members wearing bulletproof jackets with the ‘AKF’ logo, and AKF WhatsApp group chats were also recovered.

The police maintained that Tejinder too was a drug addict and had joined a de-addiction centre at Amritpal’s native village Jallupur Khera in Amritsar some months ago just like many others. Soon, he was “promoted” as Amritpal’s gunman and given weapons training, said the police, adding that he was also a member of the ‘Close Protection Team (CPT)’ — a group which has been entrusted with Amritpal’s security.

“After checking Tejinder Gill’s previous records, he has two FIRs registered against him — one under the Excise Act for alleged liquor smuggling in which he was convicted; and another was for assault which was cancelled based on both parties reaching a compromise,” said the police.

SSP Kondal further revealed that two WhatsApp groups – ‘AKF’ and ‘Amritpal Tiger Force’ – were checked thoroughly, and analyzed. “In one of the groups, instructions were given to the group members to get new members inducted. The members were later paid salaries by Amritpal. The members were youngsters who came for de-addiction and were later indoctrinated and given martial and weapons training, including firing practice,” she added.

The police said that one Gurbhej Singh alias Bheja gave weapons and martial training to the newly-inducted members of Waris Punjab De at a makeshift firing range at Jallupur Khera. About two months ago, according to police, Bheja also arranged 10 bullet-proof jackets with the AKF logo.

Tejinder’s interrogation also pointed out that one Harsimrat Singh Hundal alias Labh Singh alias Tiger was responsible for Amritpal’s security, who took care of the weapons, assigned duties to the members of Close Protection Team.

Amritpal suspected to be in Delhi

Currently, on the run, Amritpal Singh is suspected to have left for Delhi. Punjab police, suspecting that Amritpal has crossed the Delhi border through any vehicle other than the bus, have alerted the Delhi Police regarding the pro-Khalistan “fugitive”.  Police maintained that Amritpal and his associate Papalpreet Singh, after taking shelter at the residence of their woman acquaintance at Shahbad, had taken a Haryana Roadways bus from Kurukshetra at around 2 am on March 20. Punjab Police, after tracking the bus, have taken the driver and conductor into custody, and interrogating them about Amritpal and Papalpreet to know where the two got down from the bus.

An alert has also been issued in Dehradun, Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand as a precaution in view of the possibility of Amritpal entering the hill state. Notably, these three districts of the state have been affected by terrorism in the 90s.  The local police are conducting intensive checking on the borders of all three districts and in other areas.

SSB steps up vigil, Amritpal’s posters along Nepal border in UP

The Sashastra Seema Bal has issued an alert and put up posters bearing pictures of Amritpal Singh and his aides along the border with Nepal to avert the possibility of the radical preacher fleeing the country via Uttar Pradesh. The Punjab Police launched a crackdown against Amritpal and elements of his "Waris Punjab De" outfit last week.

Amritpal May Have Changed His Look

Sources maintained that after the interrogation of the arrested woman from Kurukshetra Baljeet Kaur, Amritpal has changed his appearance and now he is roaming around with open hair without a turban. Earlier on Tuesday, Punjab Police had released at least seven new photos of the radical leader and have asked people to help the government nab him. The police have also recovered a bag from Baljeet Kaur, which Papalpreet had left with him. The bag contains two pullovers, and one white chola, besides Income tax returns of past years.