By Asia Samachar | India |
Police have arrested Sikh activist Amritpal Singh, bringing to an end a month-long manhunt that saw thousands of Indian paramilitary forces put into action in Panjab overnight after his supposed escape on March 18.
Amritpal leads the Waris De Punjab group, a group that has now been outlawed in India. The group was actively urging Sikh youth to stay away from drugs, while Amritpal also spoke on the deplorable state of Punjab.
The news of his arrest was announced today (April 23) in a tweet on Punjab Police India’s official Twitter account.
He was arrested in Moga, Punjab, in the northwest of India, but will be taken to a high-security jail in Assam in India’s far east, according to local media reports.
Amritpal had reportedly addressed a gathering at a Gurdwara in Rode village of Moga district before being arrested by the Punjab Police on Sunday morning, according to one newspaper. This is the village of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Initial details of the arrest suggest that SSP Amritsar Rural Satinder Singh and SSP Jalandhar Rural Swarndeep Singh were present at the spot.
Hundreds of Sikhs, many of them leaders of various grassroots organisations, have been detained under the pretext of being Amritpal’s sympathizers, raising the concern of Sikhs.
The American Sikh Council (ASC), for example, had expressed its concern over the continuous targeting and illegal detention of young Sikh men across Panjab since March 18.
With over 80,000 Indian paramilitary forces put into action in Panjab overnight to apparently apprehend one man, Bhai Amritpal Singh who apparently escaped while everyone else has been arrested is entirely fake and it portrays a very nefarious political drama, it said in a recent statement.
UPDATE: In a video released on TheWarisPanjabDe (@THEWPD_OFFICIAL) today, Amritpal spoke about surrendering to the police.
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Police action against Amritpal Singh – What is really going on? (Asia Samachar, 20 March 2023)
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