Amritsar/Hoshiarpur: After the arrest of Papalpreet Singh, key aide of pro-Khalistan fugitive Amritpal Singh, another close associate of the radical preacher has also been nabbed, Punjab Police claimed.
Talking to reporters in Amritsar, deputy inspector general , border range, Narendera Bhargav said that Amritpal’s associate Joga Singh was arrested from Sirhind after a joint operation by Amritsar (Rural) and Hoshipur police teams. Bhargav was accompanied by Amritsar (Rural) SSP Satinder Singh and Hoshiarpur SSP Sartaj Chahal.
Lawyer among 3 others arrested
The Hoshiarpur police arrested three others, including a lawyer, for allegedly extending help to Amritpal, who is on the run since March 18. Two persons are reportedly from Jalandhar district and one belongs to Hoshiarpur's Babak village.
While officials remained silent over their arrest, sources said that they are in the custody of the crime investigation agency (CIA). Amritpal and his aide-mentor Papalpreet Singh had escaped from Marnaiyan village on the night of March 28.
Earlier on April 10, two brothers from Rajpur Bhaiyan village were arrested on the suspicion that they provided shelter to the fugitives. They are in police remand.
Papalpreet Singh, considered to be a strategist of the outfit with close links to Pakistan's ISI, was arrested from Hoshiarpur last week and has been booked under the National Security Act (NSA). Amritpal is still at large since the Punjab Police launched a massive crackdown against the Waris Punjab De and its members.
Papalpreet Singh was brought to Dibrugarh in Assam, over 2500 km away from the northern state, and lodged in the central jail along with seven others of the pro-Khalistan outfit.
The crackdown on Waris Punjab De began weeks after Amritpal and his supporters stormed the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested associate. The episode had raised fears of the return of Khalistani militancy to the state that borders Pakistan.