क्राइम

Amritpal Singh manhunt enters day 10, selfie with aide crops up but where is Khalistani leader?

Ten days have passed since the Punjab Police launched a crackdown against Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh and his aides. The police have widened their search net, but the separatist leader has continued to evade arrest.

As the search for absconding entered day 10 on Monday, the Punjab Police expanded its network to other states. The Punjab Police and intelligence agencies have picked up searches in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and are keeping a close watch on the India-Nepal border to prevent the fugitive from fleeing the nation.

The Punjab Police had launched a crackdown against Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh and his aides on March 18. Amritpal Singh managed to Since then, the Khalistani leader, has been on the run.

While Amritpal Singh managed to evade the police, an undated photograph of Amritpal Singh with his aide Papalpreet Singh has surfaced. The photograph, a selfie, shows the duo with energy drinks in their hands.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Police on Sunday released 197 people out of the total 353 taken into preventive custody on apprehension of breach of peace and disturbance of law and order. This included a couple from Jammu who were brought to Punjab for questioning and then let off. Forty persons have been arrested under substantive criminal offences and seven persons have been

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has condemned the "excesses" being committed by the police against Sikh youths in the state for the past few days. The Sikh body asked the Punjab government to stop arresting "innocent" Sikh youths.

Sikh preacher Baljit Singh Daduwal has also questioned Punjab Police over the matter.

“At this time, Jathedar should take a brave decision, that the innocent youth should be let off, who have been arrested since March 18. Amritpal is no stranger. We may have differences. Youth should not be punished. What happened in Ajnala is a point in case. Why was Amritpal's aide let off? If he was not innocent, he should not have been let off. But if he is innocent, he has been let off... and now all of a sudden what has happened is that the state has been handed over to the force,” Daduwal said.

Former Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee Chief Manjit Singh GK also questioned the Punjab Police. He said, "How was the NSA slapped on the people overnight? Till a month ago, they kept giving gun licences to Amritpal. How is he a threat to the nation today? The people who were arrested, even people living in their gully do not recognise them.”

Meanwhile, the political parties have slammed the Punjab government and the central government over the matter.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Inability to catch Amritpal till date was a failure of both Centre and the state agencies.”

Speaking to India Today, Surjewala said that the Congress had warned the Bhagwant Mann government of the lumpen elements. A handful of terrorists are today maligning the image of Punjab, the Congress leader said.

Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Cheema, whose party says they will provide legal aide to innocent youth, told India Today, “This was one of the biggest operations carried out. The internet was shut down. Haryana Home Minister had issued a statement that he knows where Amritpal is. It means that both Haryana and Punjab Police didn't want to catch him. There was an inordinate delay. Meanwhile, Amritpal Singh and his aides have sent Punjab Police on a wild goose chase from one state to the other.”