E-Paper
Hoshiarpur court sends Amritpal’s key aide Joga Singh to 3-day police remand
A local court here on Sunday sent a close aide of the radical preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh, Joga Singh, who was arrested two days ago, to three-day police remand.
A local court here on Sunday sent a close aide of the radical preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh, Joga Singh, who was arrested two days ago, to three-day police remand.
Joga Singh was arrested in a joint operation by the Hoshiarpur and Amritsar-rural police when he was coming to Punjab from Haryana. He was arrested allegedly for providing shelter and other assistance to Amritpal Singh in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit district. He was produced before a local court on Sunday. The police sought seven-day custody of the accused but the court granted three-day remand.
A resident of Ludhiana and in-charge of a ‘dera’ in Pilibhit, Joga Singh was nabbed from Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib after he crossed over to Punjab from Haryana, police had said.
Pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh has been on the run since March 18 after the police crackdown against him and his aides.
Joga Singh had been in direct contact with Amritpal Singh, police had said. It was Joga Singh who brought Amritpal and his other aide Papalpreet back to Punjab.
Amritpal and Papalpreet fled Punjab following a police crackdown on March 18. They returned to the state on March 28. Papalpreet has already been arrested.
Punjab Police launched a major crackdown last month against Amritpal and the members of his ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit.
The Khalistan sympathiser escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18 by switching vehicles and changing appearances.
Amritpal and his associates have been booked in several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
After Joga Singh’s arrest, the Punjab police said he was in direct contact with Amritpal.
“Joga Singh was in direct contact with Amritpal. He arranged shelter and vehicles for the pro-Khalistan leader and his aide Papalpreet from March 18 to March 28. He arranged his stay in Pilibhit and then return to Punjab,” deputy inspector general (border range) Narinder Bhargav had said after the accused was arrested on April 15.
Amritpal had fled to UP through Haryana after evading his arrest during the Punjab Police crackdown.
The DIG said on March 28, Amritpal, Joga, Papalpreet and Sharanjit were spotted in the Hoshiarpur district. Amritpal is still on the run but the three of his associates have been nabbed, he said adding that Joga has not been arrested under the National Security Act (NSA). “He was booked on March 28 in Hoshiarpur under Sections 212 (harbouring offender), 279 (rash driving) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” the DIG said.
Apart from Joga Singh, the Hoshiarpur police had also arrested three persons, including a lawyer, for helping and giving shelter to Amritpal. While Onkar Nath and Sarabjit Singh hail from Jalandhar district, the lawyer, Rajdeep Singh, is a resident of Babak village of Hoshiarpur. The court sent Onkar to judicial custody, whereas the other two were remanded to four-day police custody.
