Sun 19 March 2023:
As Sikh hardliner Amritpal Singh is still at large, the day after Punjab Police launched a massive manhunt to nab him, Jalandhar police chief Kuldeep Chahal termed it a game of “chor-police”.
In a statement to the media on March 19, Chahal refuted accusations of improper management of the circumstance.
He said, “It is a chor-police game. We arrested most of his supporters. Somehow, he managed to escape. We will arrest Amritpal Singh soon. Our main motive right now is to maintain law and order.”
PUNJAB POLICE ‘ARRESTS’ AMRITPAL SINGH, 6 SUPPORTERS; INTERNET SUSPENDED ACROSS STATE
The Punjabi Aam Aadami Party government has prolonged the internet blackout till Monday at 12 p.m., but the situation there currently seems ambiguous.
A new video has surfaced wherein four close aides of Amritpal Singh were flown to Dibrugarh, Assam.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Punjab Police have not publicly disclosed the reasons for moving his assistants to Assam, a media report said that they were flown to Dibrugarh by a special Air Force aircraft. They’ll probably be held in the central jail in Dibrugarh.
On the other hand, the state has already begun to hear political allegations.
The AAP government’s operation against Amritpal was described as “belated, ill-timed, unprepared, and unsuccessful” by senior BJP politician from Punjab, Sunil Jakhar.
He claimed that it was hurriedly launched by the government to escape ‘jail-interviews’ and slain singer Sidhu Moosewala’s death anniversary fallout.
In the past few days, a TV channel broadcasted back-to-back interviews of renowned mobster Lawrence Bishnoi from inside the jail, in which he lambasted Moosewala and also denied any role behind his murder.
Last year, Punjab Police pinned Bishnoi, the mastermind behind Moosewala’s death.
While Punjab police categorically denied that interviews were done in Punjab jails where Lawrence is currently lodged, Moosewala’s father Balkaur Singh alleged that Bishnoi was made a hero in front of the public but the reality is that he is being used and there are big forces behind him.
Although Moosewala’s first death anniversary on Sunday, March 19, is being held in the shadow of the police action on Amritpal, Balkaur Singh in a fresh statement also said that the ongoing crackdown on Khalistan sympathiser was an attempt to dissuade Moosewala’s fans to attend the ‘barsi’ event.
Police actions against Amritpal and his supporters, however, were not limited to Punjab.
The most recent video shows Daljeet Singh Kalsi, also known as Sarabjeet Singh Kalsi, being taken into custody from his Gurgaon apartment by a joint team of Punjab and Haryana police. Kalsi is allegedly Amritpal Singh’s advisor and financier.
As per Punjab police’s Saturday, March 18, statement, so far 78 persons associated with Amritpal have been taken into custody, including six of his closest aides.
As Amritpal was garnering a lot of attention for his outspoken call for Khalistan, the Punjab government claimed in a news release yesterday night that the most recent police action against him and his crew in Waris Punjab De was related to the Ajnala incident last month.
It claimed that an FIR has already been filed against him and his supporters on February 24 for their involvement in four criminal cases relating to spreading disharmony among classes, attempting to murder, attack on police persons and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duties of public servants pertaining to the Ajnala incident.
After one of their aides was taken into custody in connection with a kidnapping and assault case last month on February 23, Amritpal and his supporters assaulted a police station in the nearby town of Ajnala.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Police have declared Amritpal a fugitive. The Jalandhar police chief told the press that he was chased for 20-25 kilometres before he managed to escape. “We will arrest him soon,” he added.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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