Amritpal Singh arrested from Punjab

A large group of police surrounded the village on Sunday morning in Moga district of India's Punjab province. They had information that fugitive pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh is hiding in that village for the past 37 days.

Roade village is very well known in Punjab. Because this is the birth place of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwal, the father of the Khalistani movement that arose in India demanding an independent state.

Amritpal Singh's 'dastarbandi' (leadership turban tying ceremony) was organized in this village last year. After which he emerged as the new leader of 'Waris Punjab Di' group.

After about seven months of that arrest, he finally surrendered to the Punjab Police at a gurdwara in Rode village. Soon after, Punjab Police said on Twitter that Amritpal Singh has been arrested in Moga. It was also announced that details will be given in this regard later.

In the afternoon, Punjab Police IG (Director General) Sukhchain Singh Gill said, "We had specific intelligence information about the road where Amritpal Singh is in the village.

He also said that Amritpal Singh was surrounded in such a way that there was no way for him to escape. In other words, the police chief claimed that Amritpal Singh surrendered to the police not voluntarily but under compulsion.

Shortly after Amritpal Singh surrendered, he was flown across the country to Dibrugarh in Assam. The over hundred year old Central Jail at Dibrugarh is known as the most secure jail in the northeastern region of the country. High-profile prisoner Amritpal Singh is kept there.

Eight close associates of Amritpal Singh have been arrested since last month and are being held in that jail under the National Security Act. India's draconian law allows anyone to be detained for up to a year without being charged.

It is not yet clear whether the same law will be applied against pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh. Meanwhile, the Punjab Police, however, appealed to the citizens to maintain peace and harmony in the state.

They also said that no one should share any information without proper verification and should not spread 'fake news'. When Amritpal Singh was taken into custody by the Punjab Police today after his arrest, the picture of that time also spread on social media.

In that picture, Amritpal Singh is seen in the white religious robe (robe) of the Sikhs. Earlier, since March 18, the Punjab Police was conducting a search operation virtually all over India in search of Amritpal Singh.

The pro-Khalistan leader has been on the loose ever since he fled in the face of the police near Jalandhar on the afternoon of March 18. Finally after 37 days he was found.

Who is Amritpal Singh?
Just a few months ago why no one in the rest of India, even in Punjab, had heard of Amritpal Singh. This youngster from Jallupur Khera village near Amritsar had crossed the school boundary to Dubai ten years ago to look into the family's transport business. Although he holds an Indian passport, he is also a permanent resident of Canada.

Deep Sidhu, a Punjabi singer-activist who gained wide recognition through the farmers' movement in India, formed a social organization or NGO called 'Waris Punjab Di' in late 2021.

The death of Deep Sidhu in a car accident in February of the following year led to a leadership conflict to give Waris Punjab. The organization also broke into several pieces. On September 29 last year, a group of 'Waris Punjab Di' chose Amritpal Singh, who had returned to India only a few days before, as their new leader.

Langar was arranged that day at the named Gurudwara in Bhindranwal, where thousands of people received 'Seba'.

Since then, Amritpal's followers have tried to portray him as Bhindranwale's worthy successor, with the media describing him as Bhindranwale 2.0.

In several interviews and speeches since taking charge of the organisation, the young leader has made it clear that he will fight for Khalistan just like Guru Bhindranwal. A large crowd is also gathering in the meeting to listen to his religious discourse.

Amritpal Singh keeps saying one thing in sabha-samiti or jalsa, slave mentality has crept into Sikhs for the last one and a half hundred years. Earlier they were slaves of British, now they are slaves of Hindus - this situation should be reversed and Sikh rule should be brought back.

Amritpal Singh used to move around in the form of 10-15 very close followers all the time. His convoy also consisted of at least half a dozen SUVs. And like Bhindranwal, he always had a sword-sized kirpan on his waist.

On February 23, several hundred armed followers of Amritpal Singh attacked a police station in Ajanala near Amritsar to free one of their colleagues. Khalistan slogans were raised on their faces during the attack.

Many police personnel and officials were injured in the attack which was carried out with firearms and kirpans. Shortly after this, the Union Home Ministry and the Aam Aadmi Party government of Punjab discussed among themselves and decided to launch an operation to arrest Amritpal Singh. Then he was arrested on Sunday.

Source: BBC

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