AMRITSAR : Fugitive pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh’s wife Kirandeep Kaur was not allowed to board a flight to London at the Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar on Thursday.
Amritpal is on the run since March 18 after Punjab Police crackdown against him and his aides. He is facing charges of disrupting communal harmony, attempt to murder and attacking police, and was also booked under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).
A UK citizen, Kaur was stopped by the immigration officials at the airport as a lookout circular (LOC) has been issued against her by the Punjab Police.
Kaur, who married the radical leader on February 10, had to take Air India’s (AI 169) flight, which was scheduled to depart for London at 1.20 pm on Thursday, said officials.
Kaur was also questioned by officials of the immigration, customs, intelligence bureau and other central agencies for around three hours, said a senior Punjab Police official.
Officials familiar with the development said Kaur was trying to return to London even before the expiry of her 180-day visa. Her parents live in London and it would have been her first visit to the UK after her marriage, said officials.
{{/usCountry}}Officials familiar with the development said Kaur was trying to return to London even before the expiry of her 180-day visa. Her parents live in London and it would have been her first visit to the UK after her marriage, said officials.
{{/usCountry}}After questioning, she was asked to return to Jallupur Khera — Amritpal’s ancestral village — at 2.45 pm, said officials.
“As a lookout circular has been issued against Kaur, she can’t leave the country till our investigation is complete,” said a senior police official.
“We have stopped her from leaving the country. She was neither arrested nor detained. She is needed for questioning in the Amritpal case,” said senior superintendent of police (SSP), Amritsar-rural, Satinder Singh.
Police have issued LOCs against all family members of Amritpal and members of his ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit.
Kaur was questioned in March too after her husband escaped during the police crackdown.
Nine associates of Amritpal, including his uncle Harjit Singh, have been detained by Punjab Police and sent to Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the NSA.
Amritpal got married to Kaur in a simple ceremony at Jallupur Khera, his native village in Amritsar. The ‘Anand Karaj’ was held with a limited gathering of family members at a gurdwara in Baba Bakala of Amritsar.
Amritpal had said his marriage was an example of reverse migration and announced that he and his wife would live in Punjab.
There is no evidence or case registered against Kaur in India for being an active member of separatist organisation Babbar Khalsa International while staying in the UK. Earlier, unconfirmed reports had surfaced that she was in contact with the organisation and had also been arranging funds for Amritpal.