Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh surrenders to Punjab police: Sources

PUNJAB ,APR 23 : Radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who has been on the run since March 18, surrendered before the Punjab police on Sunday, according to reports.

Amritpal Singh is being shifted to Assam’s Dibrugarh, where eight of his aides are already being held under the National Security Act.

Amritpal Singh surrendered three days after his wife Kirandeep Kaur was held for questioning at the Amritsar airport while she was trying to flee to London. Kirandeep Kaur, who was questioned by the customs department, was detained as a precautionary measure under the same legal process under which the family and acquaintances of the absconding accused are questioned.

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In February, this year hundreds of supporters of Pro-Khalistan propagator and self-styled Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh had barged into the Ajnala Police Station near Amritsar and laid siege after clashing with the police personnel.

The 29-year-old’s supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and stormed the police station demanding that Lovepreet Singh alias Toofan, an accused in a case involving kidnapping, be released. A few policemen were injured during the clash, according to officials.

A case was registered against Amritpal Singh and his 30 supporters for allegedly kidnapping and thrashing Barinder Singh, a resident of Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district.

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Amritpal Singh tied the knot with UK-based Kaur in February this year.

Amritpal Singh 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 Singh had surfaced on social media.

In one of his two videos, which surfaced on March 30, Amritpal Singh 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.

Recently, Punjab Police had pasted posters of Amritpal Singh at railway stations in Batala and Amritsar, announcing that an appropriate reward will be given to anyone who provides credible information about his whereabouts.

On April 15, police managed to nab 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 in Assam and charged under the stringent National Security Act.

Amritpal Singh was last year anointed the head of ‘Waris Punjab De’, the organisation founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu.

-PTI