CHANDIGARH, Apr 23: Radical preacher Amritpal Singh was arrested in Rode village of Punjab’s Moga district early Sunday, more than a month after the state police launched a crackdown against him following the storming of the Ajnala police station by his supporters to secure the release of an arrested associate.
The 29-year-old Amritpal was arrested at 6:45 am after police personnel surrounded him in Rode village, leaving him with no way to escape, Inspector General of Police, Sukhchain Singh Gill told a news conference here.
Slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale hailed from Rode village and Amritpal was last year anointed the head of ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit at an event held in this village.
Gill said “Amritpal has been taken to Dibrugarh in Assam under National Security Act (NSA)”.
“National Security Act (NSA) warrants were issued against Amritpal Singh and these have been executed today morning. Further law will take its own course,” he said.
The police official countered claims made by Amritpal in a video, which surfaced online, that the Khalistani sympathiser had surrendered.
Gill said Amritpal was traced to village Rode based on operational inputs and was surrounded by cops leaving him with no way to escape.
“A joint operation was conducted by Amritsar police and the intelligence wing of Punjab Police. He was located in village Rode based on operational inputs by Punjab Police. He was surrounded from all sides, the village was surrounded by Punjab Police,” he said.
Police said it did not enter the gurdwara in which Amritpal was present to maintain its sanctity.
To a question on reports that Amritpal has surrendered, the officer said it is very clear that he has been arrested after being surrounded from all sides.
A message was conveyed to Amritpal that he had no chance to escape, Gill said. “The way the whole operation was planned, the way there were concrete inputs, the way the village was surrounded…It was very important to maintain the sanctity of gurdwara and police with uniform could not enter inside. When he was surrounded from all sides, (he) came to know of this, then the arrest was possible,” he said.
“What happened inside (the gurdwara) and what was said inside, it is not proper to make any comment,” he said.
Gill said this operation has been going on for the past 35 days.
In the video that surfaced on social media, Amritpal is seen purportedly addressed a gathering at a gurdwara in Rode village in which he says he was “surrendering”. “It is the birth place of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. This is the place where my ‘dastar bandi’ (turban tying) ceremony was held. We are standing at life’s critical juncture. During the past one month whatever took place, you have seen that all,” he said in the video.
A month back, “excesses” were unleashed by the government against Sikhs. Had it been only the question of (my) arrest, then perhaps there were many ways of arrest and with which, I would have cooperated, he could be heard saying in the video.
“In the court of Almighty, I am not guilty but I could be guilty in the worldly court,” he said.
After one month, I decided that we fought on this land, we will fight on this land and will never leave this land, he said, adding, he will face “false” cases lodged against him.
“On the same place (Rode where he was anointed), I decided to surrender and this arrest is not an end, it is the beginning,” he said.
Jasbir Singh Rode, former Jathedar of the Akal Takht, claimed Amritpal surrendered and that he was present when he did so.
He told reporters in Moga that Amritpal addressed a gathering and later came out of the gurdwara to surrender.
In another video, Amritpal is seeing sitting in front of a picture of Bhindranwale.
Amritpal had been on the run since March 18 when a police crackdown was launched against him and members of his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’. The Punjab Police had invoked the stringent NSA against the Khalistan sympathiser.
Several cases have been lodged against the radical preacher and his associates for allegedly spreading disharmony, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and obstructing the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
In February, Amritpal and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into the Ajnala Police Station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of one of his aides. His wife Kirandeep Kaur was stopped at the Amritsar airport by immigration officials on Thursday while she was trying to board a flight to London. Amritpal tied the knot with UK-based Kaur in February this year.
Amritpal had earlier escaped the police dragnet twice — first on March 18 in Jalandhar district by switching vehicles and then again 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, has been arrested.
While on the run, two videos and one audio clip of Amritpal had surfaced on social media. In one of his two videos, which surfaced on March 30, Amritpal had asserted that he was not a fugitive and would soon appear.
The pro-Khalistan preacher had claimed that he was not like those who flee the country.
The Jathedar of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, had asked the preacher to surrender before the police and cooperate with the investigation.
On April 15, police nabbed Amritpal Singh’s close aide Joga Singh from Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib. According to them, Joga Singh was in direct contact with Amritpal and had even arranged a shelter and vehicles for him in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit.
It was Joga Singh who brought Amritpal 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 — have been lodged in Dibrugarh jail and charged under NSA.
Amritpal Singh, who returned from Dubai, was last year anointed the head of ‘Waris Punjab De’, the organisation founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu. (Agencies)
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