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Alert sounded in Uttarakhand amid hunt for Amritpal Singh
A woman arrested for allegedly harbouring Amritpal Singh and his associate in Haryana reportedly told police that he made some calls indicating they planned to go to Uttarakhand
The Uttarakhand Police have sounded an alert in Dehradun, Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar districts over the possibility of absconding pro-Khalistan separatist preacher Amritpal Singh and his aides entering the state.
Additional director general (law and order) V Murugesan said intensive checking is being carried out as part of the alert at the entry points to these districts.
A woman arrested on Thursday for allegedly harbouring Amritpal Singh and his associate in Haryana’s Kurukshetra reportedly told police that Amritpal Singh made some calls indicating they planned to go to Uttarakhand.
Uttarakhand Police chief Ashok Kumar on Thursday they were to yet receive any official correspondence from their Punjab counterparts about Amritpal Singh’s presence in the hill state. Posters have been put up in villages along the border with Nepal to ensure they do not leave the country via Uttarakhand.
Ravinder Singh Bisht, a local police officer, said they pasted posters of Amritpal Singh and his associates in villages along the border and gave some of them to Nepali forces as well. “We have also organised meetings in the villages for assistance. Since our border with Nepal is open, we have to be extra cautious.”
Police said a strict vigil was being maintained in the Udham Singh Nagar district, where 30-year-old Gurwinder Singh was booked for an alleged pro-Amritpal Singh post on social media.
The operation against Amritpal Singh, who has been accused of spreading communal disharmony, attempting to murder, and attacking policemen, began on Saturday last.
On February 23, thousands of his supporters besieged a police station and forced the Punjab government to free Amritpal Singh’s key aide, Lovepreet Singh Toofan, who was accused of abduction.
Toofan’s release and the siege drew parallels to the 1980s when Punjab battled separatism.
Singh fashions himself after 1980s separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and has been linked to a larger conspiracy involving the Khalistani secessionist movement. Intelligence agencies say he was radicalising young men in Punjab.
The Union home ministry on Monday asked the border guarding forces to be on the lookout and foil Amritpal Singh’s attempts to leave the country.
On Thursday, Punjab Police said Amritpal Singh set up a temporary shooting range in his village in Amritsar district where he was training his aides on the use of firearms to recruit them in a force he was building and termed it Anandpur Khalsa Fauj.
