Manhunt for Amritpal Singh in Delhi

Amid the ongoing manhunt for fugitive pro-Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh, teams of Delhi Police and Punjab Police on Friday launched a search operation in Delhi and its border in view of the possibility of his entering the national capital.

Delhi Police sources on Friday said that the head of the pro-Khalistani outfit Waris Punjab De is suspected to have left for Delhi.

According to sources, Delhi Police and Punjab Police were conducting a search operation in Delhi and its borders after receiving intelligence inputs of a sighting of Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal at Delhi's ISBT bus terminal. Intelligence inputs suggested that he may be disguised as a sadhu. Papalpreet Singh is accompanying Amritpal Singh, said sources.

The Punjab Police expressed doubts about Amritpal entering the Delhi border using any vehicle other than a bus. Following the input, Delhi Police went on alert mode and are trying to track Amritpal's movements. An alert has also been issued in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand as a precaution in view of the possibility of Amritpal Singh entering the state.

"An alert has been issued in Dehradun, Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar districts of the state as a precaution in view of the possibility of pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh entering the state," Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar said told ANI.

He said that the police are conducting intensive checking on the borders of all three districts and in other areas. Significantly, all three districts of the State have been affected by terrorism in the 90s, he added. Earlier on Friday, the Punjab Police released as many as 44 persons, who were taken into preventive arrest during the ongoing operation against those trying to disturb law and order in the state.

On Thursday, Punjab's Inspector General of Police (IGP), Headquarters, Sukhchain Singh Gill said that a total of 207 persons have been arrested for disturbing peace and harmony in the state. IGP Gill pon Thursday revealed that the Waris Punjab De chief's last location 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." The IGP said Baljeet Kaur disclosed during questioning that both Amritpal and his key aide, Papalpreet Singh, had stayed at her house on the night of 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.The Punjab IGP informed further that Amritpal and his aide changed their two-wheeler near a gurdwara at Sehowal village in Jalandhar and tried to get a boat to get across a river. "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.

On March 18, Punjab Police launched an operation against Amritpal and his aides. The crackdown came almost over three weeks after Amritpal's supporters clashed with uniformed personnel at the Ajnala police station on February 23, on the outskirts of Amritsar, demanding the release of one of his close aides, Lovepreet Toofan.

Thousands of his supporters stormed the Ajnala police station, flashing swords and high-calibre firearms and threatening the police with dire consequences if they did not release Lovepreet Toofan, who was arrested for allegedly assaulting and abducting a man.

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