Amritpal Singh, a Sikh preacher and Khalistan sympathizer, is on the loose, according to Punjab police, and a manhunt is still underway to apprehend him.
“He is now a fugitive and we are looking for him and we will arrest him soon,” Jalandhar Police Commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal told reporters near Nakodar in Jalandhar late Saturday night.
Chahal informed that six to seven gunmen of Amritpal Singh have already been arrested.
The Punjab government launched a major crackdown on Amritpal on Saturday, with police arresting 78 members of an organization led by it, officials said.
The elusive preacher himself, however, fooled the police and escaped their drag when his cavalcade was intercepted in Jalandhar district.
As the operation unfolded, authorities tightened security at several locations and suspended internet and texting services in the state until noon Sunday.
Police on Saturday launched a “massive statewide cordon and search operation (CASO)” in the state against members of the “Waris Punjab De” group, led by Singh, against whom several criminal cases have been recorded.
Seventy-eight people have been arrested so far, while several others have been detained for questioning, they said.
The police action came a day before the start of Amritpal Singh’s ‘Khalsa Wahir’ – a religious procession – which was due to start from Muktsar district.
During their statewide operation, police seized a .315 caliber rifle, seven 12-gauge shotguns, a revolver and 373 live rounds of various calibers, they said.
Security has been tightened in many places in Punjab with intensive vehicle screening. A police spokesman said supporters of ‘Waris Punjab De’, or WPD, are involved in four criminal cases related to spreading class discord, attempted murder, attack on staff of police and the creation of obstructions to the lawful exercise of the functions of public officials.
An FIR dated February 24 is registered against elements of the WPD for the attack on the Ajnala police station.
Last month, Amritpal and his followers, some wielding swords and guns, broke through barricades and stormed into Ajnala police station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, clashing with police at the about the release of one of Amritpal’s aides.
After the incident, in which six police officers, including a superintendent of police rank, were injured, the state AAP government faced severe criticism and was accused of bowing to extremists .
Amritpal Singh, back in Dubai, was appointed last year to head ‘Waris Punjab De’, which was founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu, who died in a traffic accident in February. last year.
(With PTI entries)
