20 March,2023 07:23 AM IST | Chandigarh | Agencies
Amritpal Singh (centre) at the Golden Temple in Amritsar in March. Pic/AFP
Four arrested members of an outfit headed by Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh were brought to Assam's Dibrugarh on Sunday even as the hunt for the radical preacher and his associates continued. The Punjab government also extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services until Monday noon.
Police launched a crackdown against Amritpal on Saturday, arresting 78 members of an outfit headed by him - Waris Punjab de. Amritpal, however, gave the police a slip when his cavalcade was intercepted in Jalandhar district on Saturday.
Two more FIRs have been registered against radical preacher Amritpal Singh and his associates in connection with the recovery of a weapon from an abandoned vehicle and breaking through police barricades in Jalandhar. One FIR was filed on Sunday after the recovery of a weapon and several dozens of live cartridges from the vehicle, which was believed to be part of Amritpal's convoy on Saturday.
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Six illegal 12 bore guns and 193 live cartridges were seized from the possession of the seven accused, identified as Ajaypal, Gurvir Singh, Baljinder Singh, Harminder Singh, Gurlal Singh, Suvereet Singh, and Amandeep Singh, he added. Amritsar Rural Senior Superintendent of Police Satinder Singh said Amritpal's seven associates, who were part of his convoy, were arrested from a place near Mehatpur in Jalandhar on Saturday evening.
Security forces on Sunday took out flag marches at several places in the state, including Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, as part of the search operation to hunt down Amritpal.
Also Read: Punjab govt extends suspension of internet, SMS services till Monday noon
Amritpal's father Tarsem Singh claimed that the police have already detained his son. "There is no information (about him) since yesterday. We feel he has already been detained," he said. The police action comes ahead of the start of Amritpal's âKhalsa Wahir' - a religious procession - from Muktsar.
Last month, Amritpal and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades, barged into the Ajnala police station and clashed with cops for the release of one of his aide.
Six cops were hurt. Asked why it took cops so long to register an FIR in the Ajnala incident, the SSP said, "The FIR was registered the very next day. How we have to act is our internal matter. We have to act keeping in view various things and we have been successful in this."
Dubai-returned Amritpal was last year anointed the head of âWaris Punjab De', which was founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu who died in a road accident in February last year.
78
No of members of Waris Punjab de held so far
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