Punjab, Mar 18, 2024: Six members of Amrital Singh’s infamous gang of Khalistan sympathisers were allegedly arrested by the Punjab Police on Saturday as part of a substantial crackdown on the self-acclaimed extremist Sikh preacher, sources informed CNN-News18.
Waris Punjab de head’s squad and the Punjab police are said to have engaged in a frantic automobile pursuit, but Amritpal Singh may have managed to flee the scene.
In Punjab’s Moga district, there was a significant police presence. In the wake of the event, internet services were discontinued in several areas of Punjab.
The Punjab police made a plea for peace in the state and urged people to uphold law and order. They also pleaded with citizens to refrain from interfering with police work. “We kindly ask all residents to uphold peace and harmony. To keep everything in order, the Punjab Police is working. Asking people not to panic or disseminate hate speech or false information “In a tweet, it stated.
For the sake of public safety, all mobile internet, all SMS (apart from banking and cell recharge), and all dongle services offered through mobile networks in Punjab’s territorial authority would be halted from March 18 at 12:00 midnight to March 19 at 12:00 noon by Department of Home Affairs and Justice, Punjab Government, ANI reported.
In a video, an unnamed supporter reportedly said Amritpal was safe and urged all of his supporters to go there.
Sources indicate that Singh, a proponent of Khalistan, was heading to Bathinda when Jalandhar police tried to apprehend him near Mehtabpur village. The residences of his followers have also been ransacked, sources claimed. Close associates of Singh had turned off all of their phones.
Although it is unclear at this time which charges are the subject of the arrests, the police’s most recent operation may have its origins in the siege of the Ajnala police station in Amritsar last month.
Once one of his aides was detained in connection with a case of kidnapping and assault, Amritpal and his supporters used force to seize control of the police station during the siege and even beat up police officials.
The Aam Aadmi Party administration came under pressure from a number of sources to take decisive action against the Sikh preacher, 29, as the incident sent shockwaves throughout the nation.
Amritpal, who seized control of the pressure organisation “Waris Punjab De” after returning from Dubai last September, was outspokenly supporting Khalistan, a separate Sikh state.
Furthermore, even more recently, he asserted that simply holding an Indian passport—which he referred to as a travel document—does not confer Indian citizenship.
While many were drawn to him, he was also charged with upsetting Punjab’s hard-won calm and unity.
Singh is the subject of one kidnapping case at the Ajnala police station in Amritsar. Following what his followers are said to have stormed the Ajnala police station on February 24, the police have not stated whether any charges have been brought against him. When one of his accomplices was arrested, his fans protested by fighting with the police and breaking into the police station.
Amritpal Singh Sandhu is a militant self-styled Indian Khalistani separatist activist from Punjab, India. He is the leader of a group named Waris Panjab De.
