Fugitive Amritpal's close aide Papalpreet arrested in Punjab
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Chandigarh: Papalpreet Singh, a close aide of fugitive 'Waris Punjab De' chief and self-styled radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, was arrested in Punjab's Hoshiarpur village on Monday.
Singh, 38, was arrested from Kathunangal area of Amritsar district under the National Security Act, Inspector General (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill told reporters. “He (Papalpreet) is the main associate of Amritpal Singh,” the officer said.
Papalpreet had been on the run along with Amritpal since March 18, after the police launched a crackdown on Khalistan sympathisers. Pictures of the two escaping from the police had surfaced on social media a few days later.
Papalpreet was also seen posing for the camera outside a tyre repair shop. However, the whereabouts of Amritpal Singh, is still not known. It is learnt that Papalpreet Singh was hiding in a 'dera' in a village from where he was arrested in a joint operation of Punjab Police and the special cell of Delhi Police.
An alleged Khalistan activist, Papalpreet called himself a journalist, writer and photographer before he became Amritpal’s media adviser. From Marari village in Amritsar district, he was first arrested in 2015 for alleged links to Pakistan’s ISI after being booked along with organisers of the 2015 Sarbat Khalsa in a sedition case, reports The Indian Express.
He was again arrested in 2016 when the police cracked down on an attempt to hold a second Sarbat Khalsa at Takht Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda. He formed an organisation called Sikh Youth Front in 2015 and later joined Shiromani Akali Dal (Mann) for a brief period before parting ways.
“Papalpreet Singh was arrested after multiple police teams carried out a special operation with assistance from the counter intelligence wing. Our teams carried out the search operation over the past three days after receiving critical information about Papalpreet’s location,” Gill said.
On February 23, Amritpal and his supporters, armed with swords, removed barricades and stormed a police station to demand the release of an associate, Lovepreet Singh Toofan, who was arrested in a separate case of rioting and kidnapping. They took Toofan out of the police station and fled from the spot.
Papalpreet and Amritpal were separated when their movement was traced near Hoshiarpur on March 28 night, says the police. Later, Papalpreet was spotted in CCTV footage at a dera in Tanauli, 2 km from Marnaian village, where police had launched a search for the two.
