Associate of Amritpal Singh Held in Delhi as Khalistani Leader still Remain Elusive

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Mar 24: Even as an associate of the Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh was detained from Delhi’s posh locality Jorbagh on Thursday night, the Haryana police said it was maintaining a strict vigil for the fugitive who remained elusive to the police since the massive manhunt began a week ago.

As the search for the radical Sikh preacher entered Day 7, the Punjab Police, with the help of Delhi Police’s special cell, arrested the man from BK Dutt Colony. This detention comes only three days after another associate of Amritpal Singh was detained from Tilak Vihar in the national capital city.

Sources have indicated that Amritpal Singh, who is still on the run, may be headed to Delhi after his last location was traced to Haryana. The police have stepped up surveillance across the national capital as there are fears that the separatist might cross state borders from Haryana, where he was last spotted.

The Haryana Police said it has stepped up vigil across the State and its personnel have been put on alert after Amritpal’s last location was traced in the Kurukshetra district. However, the whereabouts of Amritpal Singh and his associate Papalpreet Singh remains unknown. They were allegedly harboured by a woman Baljit Kaur at her home in Shahabad in Kurukshetra district earlier this week.

A senior Punjab police official said, “As soon as we came to know that he has sneaked out of Punjab, we immediately alerted the other States.” Haryana’s Additional DGP (Law and Order) Mamta Singh on Friday said there was no further input about where Amritpal went from Shahabad.

“So far, there is no other input. However, we are on alert and keeping a watch,” Ms. Singh said. Baljit Kaur was nabbed on Thursday and was being questioned by the Punjab police. Mamta Singh said immediately after the Haryana Police got information about the woman who harboured Amritpal and his associate they shared it with their Punjab counterpart.

A CCTV footage surfaced on Thursday showing Amritpal in a shirt and trousers and holding an umbrella in Haryana’s Shahabad in an apparent bid to hide from police gaze. “Later, another footage claimed to be of March 20 also surfaced in which the radical preacher is seen again carrying an umbrella and moving on a road opposite the Shahabad bus stand,” Haryana police sources said.

Meanwhile, a video has emerged showing one of Amritpal’s associates shooting at a firing range in the preacher’s native village Jallupur Khera in the Amritsar district. Pictures of some associates posing with weapons have also surfaced containing the hologram of Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF).

Punjab Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said following the questioning of Amritpal’s associate Tejinder Singh Gill who was held by the Khanna police, some sensitive materials were seized which indicate that they were involved in “anti-national activities.”

The Khanna police arrested Tejinder Singh Gill, who was part of the private security set-up of the Khalistan sympathiser. Last month, 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 the Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of one of the preacher’s aides.

Meanwhile, Papalpreet Singh, the brain behind Amritpal Singh, has been served a notice by the Income Tax department to explain the source of ₹ 4.48 lakh credited into his account, officials said here on Friday.

Papalpreet, who has been on the run along with Amritpal since the Punjab Police launched a crackdown on March 18, faced the I-T department action under section 147 of the Income Tax Act, under which an assessing officer has discretionary powers to reopen the proceedings when there are reasons to believe that some of the income has escaped assessment.

The Income Tax notice was recovered from the house of Baljit Kaur at Shahabad in Kurukshetra in Haryana where Papalpreet and Amritpal had taken shelter on March 19 and 20 before fleeing from there after changing their looks and leaving behind the sacred “Siri Sahib,” the officials said, adding a devout Sikh would not leave behind his kirpan. Papalpreet and Amritpal had told the woman that “someone would be collecting the bag” left behind by them, but the plan failed as the Haryana Police raided the house and recovered it.

The Income Tax notice, issued on March 14 this year, had asked Papalpreet to submit his reply by March 20. He has not filed his response as he has been guiding the radical preacher since March 18, the officials said.

The I-T department informed Papalpreet that his assessment had been flagged as “High Risk-CRIU (Case Related Information Upload” and asked him to explain the unaccounted income of ₹ 4.48 lakh. An internal note of the I-T department stated that Papalpreet is a journalist based out of Amritsar who runs the website “Punjab Shield” which is essentially a Khalistani propaganda site.

Rejecting his reply of February 14 where Papalpreet had stated that he earned approximately ₹ 8,000 to ₹ 20,000 per month from Youtube and ₹ 15,000 from dairy business,” the Income Tax department asked him to submit credit transactions along with documents supporting his claim.

The Income Tax department made it clear that Papalpreet had not submitted his returns for the financial year of 2019-20 during which he had a credit entry of ₹ 4,48,868 in his bank account and that needed to be explained. Papalpreet, who is alleged to be in close contact with Pakistan’s ISI and was taking instructions from it, has been one of Amritpal Singh’s mentors who had been advising him on various issues.

The officials said Papalpreet Singh was taking instructions from the ISI to raise the bogey of Khalistan in Punjab and was working to plunge the state into the dark days of terrorism. Papalpreet faces four criminal cases, including one under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and for the Ajnala police station incident.