Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh declared 'fugitive': Police

Chandigarh: Punjab Police informed that the radical Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh had been declared "fugitive". Amritpal gave the state police the slip on Saturday after they nearly arrested him.

However, a massive manhunt has been issued for the second day on Sunday to arrest the man, who is the leader of 'Waris Punjab De'. Police are mainly concentrating the search in the Jalandhar district at the moment. On Saturday, he managed to give police the slip when they attempted to intercept his vehicle.

Meanwhile, Amritpal's father, Tarsem Singh, told the media the police should have arrested him before he left the house. "We don't have any information about his whereabouts. They carried out a search at our residence for 3-4 hours but did not find anything illegal."

He called the police action "unjustified" and said his son was weaning the youth off drugs. "Why were the police not acting against criminals and those involved in drugs," he asked.

On Saturday evening, the police informed the arrest of six of Amritpal's gunmen and the detention of around 78 people.

"During the state-wide operation, nine weapons, including one .315 bore rifle, seven rifles of 12 bore, one revolver and 373 live cartridges of different calibre have been recovered so far," police said in a Twitter statement.

"Waris Punjab De elements are involved in four criminal cases relating to spreading disharmony among classes, attempting to murder, attack on police persons and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duties of public servants. FIR stands registered for the attack on Ajnala Police Station," police alleged.

Police ran a house-to-house search in villages in Nakodar in Jalandhar with the assistance of paramilitary forces on Saturday night.

Section 144 has been imposed in many districts of the state. The police have also increased security in the state. In addition, all vehicles are being checked at the Punjab-Haryana border.

Amritpal Singh, aged 30, is a pro-Khalistan fiery propagator and self-styled preacher who has been running 'separatist' propaganda through speeches. Three cases, including two of delivering hate speeches, have been pending against him.

based on IANS story