The Punjab Police has arrested Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh’s aide Papalpreet Singh from Hoshiarpur on Monday.
Papalpreet was arrested after the Punjab Police had launched a joint operation along with Punjab Counter Intelligence.
Papalpreet Singh has been with the radical Sikh leader as he escaped the police dragnet on March 18 when they launched a massive crackdown on Waris Punjab De.
According to sources, Amritpal and Papalpreet traveled together, changing vehicles, as they escaped the chase by the police. From Punjab, they fled to Haryana and probably to Delhi, as captured in CCTV footage, before they entered Punjab again.
A video of Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh surfaced on the internet on March 29. This was the first time that any statement came from Singh since the police launched a crackdown against him.
The video was released on Akaal Channel. In the video he said that he managed to escape from the police on March 18 and he is safe. He said he is not afraid of surrendering.
The fugitive said that if the Punjab government wanted only to arrest him, they would have come to his home and he would have given up. He claimed the police action against him was an "attack" on the Sikh community.
“We need to understand, this isn't about my arrest alone. This is an attack on the Sikh community as a whole. I was not afraid of being arrested earlier and I'm not afraid now,” Singh said.
He further added that the government has followed the oppressive policies of Beant Singh's government from earlier, by imprisoning Sikh youngsters.
Moreover, Singh has urged Akal Takht Jathedar to call for a Sarbar Khalsa which is a gathering of the entire Sikh community on Baisakhi.
Delhi Police said that the head of the pro-Khalistani outfit Waris Punjab De is suspected of having left the national capital. 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 sympathizer Amritpal at Delhi's ISBT bus terminal.
