Chandigarh: The hunt for fugitive Khalistan sympathiser and Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh ended on Sunday morning with Punjab police arresting the 30-year-old preacher outside a gurdwara in slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s native village of Rode in Punjab’s Moga district.
He was taken into custody under the National Security Act (NSA) and later flown from Bathinda airport to Dibrugarh central jail in Assam, where nine of his associates are being kept. All of them are facing charges under the stringent NSA.
“He was located in the village of Rode based on operational inputs by Punjab police. The village was surrounded by police. He knew he couldn’t escape. He was arrested at 6.45am,” Punjab police IG (headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said. Amritpal was inside Gurdwara Sahib, but police didn’t enter the shrine to maintain its sanctity, he said.
But Bhindranwale’s nephew and former Akal Takht jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode claimed that Amritpal wasn’t arrested, but he surrendered. In one of three video clips that surfaced after his arrest, Amritpal was heard telling a congregation in Gurdwara Sant Khalsa of Rode village: “I have decided to surrender and this arrest is not an end, it is the beginning.”
Amritpal’s parents believe their son surrendered after carrying out nitnem (daily prayer) in the gurdwara. Both his father and mother said they are prepared to visit him in Dibrugarh and fight the legal battle for his freedom.
But the AAP government and police said that Amritpal was arrested and he did not surrender. CM Bhagwant Mann said in a video message that he was informed about the police operation. During his arrest, Amritpal was seen wearing a turban and robe similar to what Bhindranwale used to wear. The first video shows him addressing a congregation in the memory of Bhindranwale. In another clip, he can be seen moving in the village, going to the basement, bowing to a picture of Bhindranwale and reciting ‘chaupai,’ a part of daily Sikh religious recitations.
It is the same village where Amritpal’s ‘dastar bandi’ (turban tying ceremony to bestow responsibility) was held on September 29 last year. The third video was apparently shot a few hours before his arrest, possibly past midnight at a different place before moving to the Rode gurdwara.
According to IGP Gill, police have been mounting relentless pressure on Amritpal for the past 36 days and all the wings of police worked in tandem for this special operation. The NSA warrants were issued against Amritpal and executed on Sunday morning. The IGP asked people not to spread rumours, warning that strict action will be taken against rumour mongers.
It was on March 18 that Punjab police launched a massive operation in Jalandhar district to nab Amritpal when he was on his way to Shahkot, but he escaped along with his aides, including Papalpreet Singh. A total of 78 people were arrested and nine weapons were seized that day. Mobile internet services were suspended across the state.
Amritpal’s wife stopped from flying to UK
Amritpal’s wife, a UK national, was prevented from boarding a flight to the UK from Amritsar’s Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport. She was questioned for “two hours,” told categorically that she could not leave Jallupur Khera village without informing the police, and then allowed to return there. Amritpal’s wife, Kirandeep, arrived at the airport to board Air India Flight 117, which was to depart for Birmingham at 2. 30 pm. As soon as the media got wind of this, they made a beeline to the airport and found her standing in the queue with her luggage trolley.