Dibrugarh/Chandigarh: Radical Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh, who was arrested by the Punjab Police from Moga’s Rode village on Sunday after a month-long man-hunt, was flown by a particular flight from Bhatinda air pressure station to Assam’s high-security Dibrugarh Central Jail.
Amritpal Arrested After A Month-Long Chase
The rise of the unconventional Khalistan preacher and his profitable evasion of arrest, ever since he and a posse of arms brandishing supporters stormed a police station final month, was seen as a problem by the nation’s safety equipment, and introduced again fears of the militancy which had stalked Punjab within the Eighties and early Nineteen Nineties.
The preacher was taken into custody within the early hours of the morning at 6.45 am as he got here out – in conventional apparel that included a sheathed sword – of the gurdwara in Rode, Bhindranwale’s native village and in addition the place which he took over final 12 months because the chief of Waris Punjab De.
The Punjab Police which had fully surrounded the Gurudwara the place Singh was hiding, detained the 29-year-old radical below the stringent National Security Act. “A joint operation was conducted by Amritsar police and the intelligence wing of Punjab Police. He was located in village Rode based on operational inputs with Punjab Police. He was surrounded from all sides. The village was surrounded by the Punjab Police,” mentioned Inspector General of Police Sukhchain Singh Gill.
Amritpal Flown To Assam
The particular flight which introduced him to Assam’s Dibrugarh, practically 2,000 kms from Bhatinda Air Force station, landed at Dibrugarh at 2.20 pm and a double cordon of armed police personnel whisked him away for a medical check-up and different formalities earlier than ultimately lodging him within the Central Jail, the place 9 different associates of his, picked up over the previous a number of weeks, have additionally been saved.
Shortly after his arrest, a video surfaced on-line by which the extremist preacher was seen delivering a short deal with, indicating that he’s surrendering. Another clip confirmed him sitting earlier than a portrait of Bhindranwale, who died in a controversial Army operation in 1984 to flush out militants holed up inside Amritsar’s Golden Temple.
Gill countered the preacher’s declare that it was a ‘surrender’ and underlined that the fugitive was cornered on the idea of intelligence inputs. A message was conveyed to the preacher that he had no probability of escaping, Gill mentioned. “NSA warrants were issued against Amritpal Singh and these have been executed today morning. Further, law will take its own course,” he mentioned.
CM Mann’s Video Warning
In a video message hours after the arrest, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann mentioned those that disturb peace and concord within the state should face the regulation, and harmless individuals is not going to be disturbed. Mann mentioned he constantly monitored developments through the night time, resulting in the arrest.
Surrender Or Arrest?
Former Akal Takht Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode mentioned he met Amritpal Singh on the gurdwara because the preacher ready to give up. In the gurdwara clip, the unconventional preacher recalled that Rode is Bhindranwale’s birthplace, and the village the place his personal ‘dastar bandi’ (turban-tying ceremony) occurred. a reference to his taking on as Waris Punjab De chief.
He claimed there have been excesses by the federal government in opposition to Sikhs whereas he was on the run, showing to counsel that the safety businesses needed to harass individuals somewhat than simply arrest him. He mentioned he would have cooperated with them had arrest been their goal. “I have decided to surrender and this arrest is not an end, it is the beginning,” he claimed. In the ‘courtroom of the Almighty’, he mentioned he’s not responsible.
Amritpal’s Family Relieved After Arrest
Hours after Amritpal was arrested, his relations mentioned they felt relieved on seeing him after greater than a month. “We came to know through the media at 7:15 am that he has been arrested,” Amritpal’s uncle Sukhchain Singh mentioned in Amritsar.
Police Flag March In Moga, Bhatinda
Meanwhile, the Punjab police took out flag marches in Moga, Bhatinda and different locations following the arrest of Amritpal as a precautionary measure. Police had launched a crackdown in opposition to Amritpal Singh on March 18, about three weeks after he and his supporters, lots of them brandishing weapons, stormed into the Ajnala police station close to Amritsar to safe the discharge of an arrested colleague.
There had been issues that the preacher had hyperlinks with Pakistan spy company ISI and was working in direction of radicalising the Sikh youth, in an effort to revive the decision for a separate nation of ‘Khalistan’. Amritpal Singh returned from Dubai final 12 months and took over Waris Punjab De after the demise of activist-singer Deep Sandhu.
Among the declared goals of the outfit was combating drug habit amongst younger individuals, however intelligence businesses feared that this was only a entrance. Several instances have been lodged in opposition to him and his associates for allegedly spreading disharmony, try and homicide, assault on police personnel and obstructing the lawful discharge of obligation by public servants.
While the preacher remained on the run for 36 days, authorities continued to pile stress on him by arresting his key associates. His spouse Kirandeep Kaur, a UK-based girl he married in February, was stopped from boarding a flight to London from Amritsar airport just lately.
Scores of sympathisers had been detained by police, however most of them had been launched because the Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee claimed younger individuals had been being harassed.
Security Tightened In Assam
Security in Assam which has been the shock selection of the nation’s safety planners for lodging the Waris Punjab de gang was beefed up after information got here in that Amritpal Singh was being flown to Dibrugarh. “The Dibrugarh Central jail compound has been surrounded by Assam Police’s elite Black Cat Commandos, CRPF and other security personnel,” a senior official instructed PTI. “He (Singh) has been kept in a special cell under very tight security. A team from Punjab Police is present in the jail along with personnel of Assam Police,” he added.
(With Agency Inputs)
