Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 10: A close aide of Amritpal Singh, the fugitive radical Sikh preacher, Papalpreet Singh was on Monday arrested by the counter-intelligence unit of Punjab police from Amritsar. Amritpal Singh, however, is still at large.
Papalpreet Singh has been detained under the stringent National Security Act, police said. Amritpal and Papalpreet Singh were constantly together after their dramatic escape from a police dragnet in Jalandhar last month. They had taken different routes to escape after reaching Hoshiarpur. The arrest was part of a joint operation of the Punjab Police and the special cell of the Delhi police.
Without taking any questions during a press conference, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill on Monday said Papalpreet Singh has been arrested under National Security Act (NSA). “We have arrested Papalpreet Singh, he has been detained under the NSA. There are six other cases, which have been registered against him, and further legal action will be taken in accordance with the law. Any further development in this case or in this matter will be shared with the media soon,” said Gill.
Gill said Papalpreet Singh was arrested from Kathunangal in Amritsar district on Monday by Amritsar Rural Police and that six other cases have also been registered against him.
Papalpreet had been on the run along with Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal since March 18 and pictures of the two escaping from the police had surfaced on social media last month. He was also seen posing for the camera outside a tyre repair shop.
Papalpreet was a Khalistani activist who called himself a journalist, writer and photographer before ending up as a media advisor to the radical preacher. Earlier, police sources claimed that Papalpreet and Amritpal were separated when police tracked their movement near Hoshiarpur on the night of March 28. Later Papalpreet was spotted in CCTV footage from a dera in Tanauli, two kilometre from Marnaian village, where police had launched a search for the duo.
A resident of Marari village in Amritsar district, Papalpreet was earlier arrested for his alleged links to Pakistan’s ISI in 2015.
Amritpal Singh, who has evaded arrest so far, sought a meeting of the Sikhs later this month, after which the Punjab police cancelled the leaves of all cops in the state till Baisakhi celebrations on April 14.
The separatist has asked the chiefs of the top Sikh body, Akal Takht, to convene the “Sarbat Khalsa” gathering in Punjab’s Bathinda on the occasion of Baisakhi. He also asked the jathedars (chiefs of Akal Takht) to take out a religious procession from the Akal Takht in Amritsar to Damdama Sahib in Bathinda ahead of the gathering on Baisakhi.
Security arrangements in Bathinda have been stepped up following an unverified video appeal from the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief about the Baisakhi gathering. Akal Takht chief Giani Harpreet Singh has appealed to Amritpal to surrender in front of the police, saying that he will neither be allowed to surrender at Akal Takht nor will the Sikh body negotiate with the cops over this.
Only the Akal Takht chief can decide whether to call such a congregation after consulting with Sikh scholars and intellectuals, top gurdwara body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) said following Amritpal’s request.
‘Sarbat Khalsa’ congregations were called only on two other occasions – in 2015 and 1986. The last one was held on February 16, 1986.
The fugitive Khalistan leader had recently appeared in a video saying he was not “a fugitive” and will soon “appear in front of the world”. Amritpal said those who think that he ran away or left his friends should “get that thing” out of their minds. “Soon I will appear in front of the world. I’m not the kind of person who will go abroad and put out videos,” he said.
Amritpal has been on the run since March 18, the day Punjab Police launched a massive manhunt for him. The crackdown came almost over three weeks after Amritpal’s supporters attacked the Ajnala police station in Amritsar on February 23 demanding the release of one of his close aides, Lovepreet Toofan.
The year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has been facing flak over the poor law and order situation and is being seen on the back foot after the police failed to arrest Amritpal following the crackdown against him and all those trying to disturb law and order in the State. After he gave the police the slip on March 18 when his cavalcade was intercepted in Jalandhar district, the 30-year-old Amritpal, who is booked in at least a half dozen criminal cases has been on the run since then, raising questions surrounding the police proficiency.
Amritpal has been facing cases under the Indian Penal Code surrounding spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
