Police claims “arrested”; Videos points at ‘surrender’
Ending a month-long chase, pro-Khalistan Sikh preacher and Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh is finally in the police net. Amidst the conflicting claims of Khalistani ideologue’s surrender or arrest by the Punjab police from Moga on Sunday morning, Amritpal — booked under National Security Act (NSA) — has been shifted to Assam’s Dibrugarh jail, where nine of his aides are currently lodged.
Even as the videos surfaced before and after Amritpal’s “arrest” indicate that the radical Sikh preacher has surrendered before the police, the state Inspector General of Police (IGP), headquarters, Sukhchain Singh Gill rubbished all reports claiming that the “fugitive” was arrested from Moga’s Rode village — the native village of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale — in the morning from outside the village Gurdwara.
“Amritpal was arrested after concrete operational information. We had located him in Rode village after intelligence inputs, and this village was cornered by the Punjab Police teams,” said IGP Gill, addressing the media at Chandigarh hours after his arrest.
“A joint team of the Amritsar Police and Punjab police’s intelligence wing laid siege to the village on Saturday night after we received information that Amritpal is hiding in the village…He was in the gurdwara. He remained in the gurdwara for some time and after he came out at 6:45 am, we arrested him. We did not enter the gurdwara because of maryada (decorum). We nabbed him the moment he came out,” said IGP Gill.
IGP Gill said that Amritpal has been shifted to Dibrugarh Central jail in Assam under the National Security Act (NSA) which was invoked against him the previous month. “NSA warrants were issued against Amritpal Singh and those warrants have been executed today morning…Amritpal Singh has been arrested by Punjab Police around 6.45 am today morning in the village Rode,” said IGP Gill.
“Amritpal Singh has been sent to Dibrugarh, Assam and further action will be taken as per law and order in the case,” he said while issuing a warning against disturbing elements trying to jeopardise the state’s peace and harmony.
The 29-year-old Khalistan ideologue Amritpal’s arrest came days after his wife Kirandeep Kaur, a British national, was not allowed to board a flight to London at the Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar, and was sent back to Amritpal’s native village — Jullupur Khera in Amritsar. Police sources claimed that that Amritpal came under immense pressure after the police put his wife under surveillance and tracked her activities.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, reports suggest, monitored the entire operation throughout the night after he was informed by the police that Amritpal has taken shelter in Rode village gurdwara. At around 4 am, it was confirmed to the Chief Minister that Amritpal was surrounded with no escape route.
“It is very clear that we have arrested him, he was surrounded from all sides and had no way to escape. Whatever he said inside the Gurudwara Sahib it is not right to comment on it,” said IGP Gill, while rubbishing claims that Amritpal has surrendered.
Hours before his arrest, Amritpal addressed the devotees in the Gurudwara, and also released a video in which the pro-Khalistan preacher claimed that “he decided to surrender even though he had several options, including fleeing to other countries”.
“I am surrendering after a month as the State Government has been exposed completely in the eyes of the people as it had committed untold oppression and atrocities on the Sikh youth,” said Amritpal in a video message, which has been widely shared on the social media, was purportedly recorded when Amritpal was at a Rode village’s Gurdwara, from where he was arrested Sunday.
Just before Amritpal was taken into custody, videos of him at the gurdwara had gone viral. No less than three videos of Amritpal went viral in the social media, released by Akal Takht’s former jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode, declaring his presence in Gurdwara Sant Khalsa in Rode village on Sunday morning.
The first video shows him addressing the sangat at the Gurdwara. In another video, the camera follows him to the basement of the gurdwara where a large portrait of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale has been installed and Amritpal can be seen bowing before the portrait. In the third video, he recites from Sikh scriptures.
Another video, believed to have been recorded in the Gurdwara before his arrest, was also released on ‘Waris Punjab De International’ Instagram page. The video, contradicting the Punjab police version that they have cordoned off Rode village, and claimed that Amritpal himself surrendered to the police.
“Amritpal Singh came to the Gurudwara on Saturday night. He himself informed the police about his presence and that he will surrender this morning at 7 am,” claimed Jasbir Singh Rode.
Amritpal finally came in police net more than month after the Punjab Police launched a massive crackdown against his radical outfit, Waris Punjab De’, on March 18. The crackdown came after Amritpal’s supporters stormed Ajnala police station in Amritsar on February 23, demanding the release of one of his aides, Lovepreet Toofan, leaving six policemen injured.
As Amritpal managed to escape the police dragnet, the police had declared him a fugitive the same day. Punjab Police had also issued a lookout circular (LOC) and non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Amritpal to ensure that the self-styled Sikh preacher could not flee abroad.
Even as the Khalistan ideologue continue to evade arrest despite massive manhunt and amidst intensified security arrangements, he managed close escape from the Punjab Police on two occasions.
