Amritsar: Fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh’s wife Kirandeep Kaur was stopped at the Amritsar airport by immigration officials while she was trying to board a flight to London, sources said on Thursday. She was learnt to have been questioned by the immigration authorities, they said. Singh had tied the knot with UK-based Kaur in February this year.
More than a month after a police crackdown against Singh and his aides, the radical preacher continues to remain elusive even as a manhunt to nab him is underway. Police on March 18 had launched the crackdown against Singh and members of his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De.’ He and his associates were 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.
Meanwhile, the hunt for the radical preacher entered the third day on April 17 as the state police tightened the security blanket to nab him at the earliest. According to police, Amritpal’s uncle Harjit Singh and driver Harpreet Singh surrendered near a gurdwara in Mehatpur area in Jalandhar late Sunday night.
“The hunt for Amritpal is still on,” Jalandhar SSP (Rural) Swarandeep Singh said. The Punjab government extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services till Tuesday noon. Meanwhile, Amritpal’s Mercedes is learnt to have been seized by police. Earlier, two vehicles of the preacher’s convoy were seized. Police on Saturday had launched a major crackdown against Amritpal and members of his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’.
The elusive preacher, however, gave police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Jalandhar district. Police on Sunday had conducted flag marches and searches across Punjab, arresting 34 more supporters and shifting four men in custody to a jail in far-off Assam. During the ongoing crackdown operations against elements of Amritpal-led ‘Waris Punjab De’ and persons attempting to disturb peace and harmony in the state, the state police has so far arrested 112 people.
The crackdown came weeks after Amritpal and his supporters barged into the Ajnala police station near Amritsar, extracting an assurance that an arrested man would be released. With the state on high alert, senior officers of Punjab police have asserted that the law and order situation is under control and appealed to the public not to lend an ear to rumours.
Police on April 16 also said that it had registered an FIR against Amritpal and his supporters for breaking through a police checkpoint and another related to the recovery of a firearm in the vehicle found in a Jalandhar village. Amritsar Rural police had also registered another FIR Saturday night under the Arms Act after the arrest of seven of the preacher’s associates in that district.
The crackdown follows the FIR registered a day after the storming of the Ajnala police station on February 23. The radical preacher and his supporters were accused of spreading disharmony, attempt to murder, attacking police personnel and obstructing public servants in discharge of their duties. Six police personnel, including a superintendent of police, were injured in Ajnala. Dubai-returned Amritpal became the head of ‘Waris Punjab De’, which was founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu who died in a road accident in February last year.
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