In a significant development in the continuing manhunt for fugitive pro-Khalistan leader and extremist preacher Amritpal Singh, Punjab’s Inspector General of Police (IGP), Headquarters, Sukhchain Singh Gill, stated on Thursday that the Waris Punjab De chief’s last known whereabouts was in Haryana.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on Thursday, the IGP said, “We are still actively searching for Amritpal Singh and have come to know that its last location was in Haryana. We have taken a woman named Baljeet Kaur into custody. Amritpal stayed at this woman’s house in Kurukshetra (Haryana) and the Waris Punjab De chief and his close aide had been in touch with her for the last two-and-a-half years.”
According to the IGP, during interrogation, Baljeet Kaur said that both Amritpal and his top assistant, Papalpreet Singh, stayed at her residence on March 19.
“We arrested Baljeet Kaur with the help of Haryana Police. She disclosed during interrogation that on the night of March 19, both Papalpreet Singh and Amritpal had put up at her place. She said she had Papalpreet for more than the last couple of years and he had stayed at her house on several occasions,” the IGP said.
“After staying the night, they moved out of there (her house) the next day. We are examining the CCTV footage and are hopeful of arresting Amritpal soon,” he added.
According to the Punjab IGP, Amritpal, and his assistant changed their two-wheeler at a gurdwara in Sehowal village in Jalandhar and attempted to cross a river by boat.
“Our team continues to be in his trail. We are examining CCTV footage retrieved from several locations in a bid to trace his whereabouts. They changed their two-wheeler at a gurdwara at Sehowal village and tried to get a boat to cross the river. However, they failed to get one and eventually used an overbridge to get across the river,” the IGP added.
“After roaming around in another two-wheeler, they hired an auto-rickshaw. After this, they were located at Kurukshetra. Gurpej (one of the four men arrested for allegedly helping Amritpal escape), who is currently in our custody, told us about another woman, apart from Baljeet Kaur, who he may turn to for refuge,” the IGP added.
According to Gill, 207 people have been detained, with 30 of them arrested in various incidents. According to the IGP, they were involved in criminal cases.
“We’ve detained 207 people so far. Of them, 30 have been arrested in different cases. They were found involved in criminal cases. Another 177 persons have been placed under preventive detention in the interest of maintaining peace, as well as law and order,” said Gill.
An accomplice of the fugitive Waris Punjab Division head was nabbed earlier in the day by Punjab police. Tejinder Singh, alias Gorkha Baba, was detained and identified as a native of Punjab’s Mangewal village.
“He often lived with Amritpal and was involved in the Ajnala violence as well. Gorkha Baba used to be Amritpal’s gunman for a long time. Tejinder was also active on social media. Pictures of him holding weapons would often surface on social media. A separate case was registered against Tejinder in Malaud police station after the pictures surfaced,” DSP Payal Harsimrat Singh told ANI.
The police informed him that he was being prosecuted under sections 107 and 151 of the Indian Criminal Code (IPS).
“Two other people accompanying Tejinder were detained and are being interrogated,” added the DSP.
The DSP went on to say that Tejinder was identified in an assault case and that he was also charged with liquor smuggling. Tejinder was sentenced in the latter case.
