One month on, no sight of Amritpal Singh except in CCTV footage

Radical preacher Amritpal Singh has managed to remain elusive even a month after the Punjab police launched a crackdown following the storming of the Ajnala police station by his supporters to secure the release of an arrested associateHis 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 UKbased Kaur in February this yearThe crackdown against Amritpal began on March 18 and members of his outfit Waris Punjab DeHe however 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 SinghAlso Read Fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singhs wife stopped at Amritsar airportPapalpreet who is considered to be Amritpals mentor and who has allegedly been in contact with Pakistans ISI has been arrestedSeveral cases have been lodged against the Khalistan sympathizer and his associates for allegedly spreading disharmony attempt to murder attack on police personnel and obstructing the lawful discharge of duty by public servantsDespite being sighted in several CCTV footage and photos with changed appearances at many places including Patiala Kurukshetra and Delhi the radical preacher continued to hoodwink the policeWhile on the run two videos and one audio clip of Amritpal surfaced on social media In one of his two videos which surfaced on March 30 Amritpal asserted that he was not a fugitive and would soon appearThe proKhalistan preacher had claimed that he was not like those who would flee the countryThere were rumours that Amritpal might surrender on Baisakhi at Takht Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda but that did not happenTight security arrangements during the Baisakhi festival at Talwandi Sabo however earned the wrath of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh who accused the Punjab government of trying to create panic Police claimed that security was deployed for the convenience and safety of devoteesThe Jathedar of Akal Takht the highest temporal seat of Sikhs had even asked the fugitive preacher to surrender before the police and cooperate with the investigation The appeal however fell on deaf earsPolice continued to search his probable hideouts the latest being in Haryanas Sirsa a few days ago Earlier searches were also conducted in Rajasthan and Uttar PradeshRecently Punjab Police pasted posters of Amritpal at railway stations in Batala and Amritsar announcing that an appropriate reward will be given to anyone who provides credible information about his whereaboutsOn April 15 police managed to nab Amritpals 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 Pradeshs PilibhitIt was Joga Singh who brought Amritpal and his aide Papalpreet back to Punjab on March 28Nine of Amritpals 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 ActAhead of the Baisakhi festival Punjab police chief Gaurav Yadav had said that those wanted by the law should submit to the process of lawAmid reports that Amritpal might have taken shelter at a religious place the top police officer had said that religious places should not be misusedThe 29yearold Amritpal Singh was last year anointed the head of Waris Punjab De the organisation founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu in February last yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever