With Baisakhi on April 14, three days – Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – leading up to the festival will be “crucial and eventful" for the Punjab Police’s operation to find Khalistan sympathiser and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh, a top intelligence source told CNN-News18.
The focus of the Punjab Police is on four areas according to the source:
- To catch Amritpal Singh.
- To secure four main spots – Akal Takht, Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo, Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur and Fatehgarh Sahib. The police have increased vigilance and patrolling on all routes leading to these four pilgrimage sites.
- In case Singh still reaches any of the spots, his evacuation and arrest.
- Even after Singh’s evacuation, these gurdwaras will be crowded owing to Baisakhi. Managing the law and order situation is another key area the police are looking at.
POSTERS PUT UP
Posters declaring Singh a “wanted man" were pasted at the Batala railway station in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district on Wednesday. The posters pasted by the government railway police state that Singh, on the run since March 18 following a police crackdown, is wanted in multiple cases.
“Whosoever has any information about him (Amritpal) can share it on the mobile numbers given below. Appropriate reward will be given on providing the information," read the poster. The name of the informer will be kept confidential, it said.
THE CRACKDOWN
The Punjab Police had last month launched a major crackdown against Singh and members of Waris Punjab De.
Singh escaped the police net in Jalandhar district, switching vehicles and changing appearances.
His close aide Papalpreet Singh was held on Monday. The radical preacher and his associates have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
ON TUESDAY
Papalpreet was sent to Dibrugarh jail in Assam on Tuesday. Papalpreet, considered to be Amritpal’s mentor, was nabbed in Amritsar district and booked under the National Security Act (NSA).
Meanwhile, a team of three lawyers from Punjab – Bhagwant Singh Siyalka, Mandeep Singh Siddhu and Rohit Sharma – met the eight members of the outfit already in the Assam jail, officials said.
The first batch of the four arrested members of the outfit were shifted by the Punjab Police on March 19. On March 21, three others, including Amritpal’s uncle Harjit Singh, were brought in.
The other members of the outfit lodged in the jail since March are Daljeet Kalsi, Basant Singh, Gurmeet Singh Bhukanwala, Bhagwant Singh alias ‘Pradhan Mantri’ Bajeka, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal and Gurinder Pal Singh.
With PTI Inputs
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