Three more first information reports (FIRs) were registered against radical preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh on Sunday under various provisions of the Arms Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC), as the manhunt for the Khalistani leader continued for a second consecutive day.
Earlier, four cases were registered against Singh in connection with several criminal cases, including spreading religious hatred. On Saturday, the state police had launched a statewide crackdown and arrested 78 people and detained 500 others but failed to catch Singh who gave them the slip in Jalandhar’s Mehatpur town.
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The police said 34 more people were arrested on Sunday.
Following the crackdown, police registered three more cases – two in Jalandhar and one in Amritsar – against the Khalistani leader who returned from Dubai last year.
According to Jalandhar deputy inspector general of police Swapan Sharma, an FIR was registered against Singh and his four associates on Saturday after they broke through police barricades in the district.
“Singh and his associates have been booked under section 279 (rash driving) of IPC,” Jalandhar rural senior superintendent of police (SSP) Swarandeep Singh said.
{{/usCountry}}“Singh and his associates have been booked under section 279 (rash driving) of IPC,” Jalandhar rural senior superintendent of police (SSP) Swarandeep Singh said.
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Singh and his four associates were further booked by Jalandhar police under the Arms Act in a second case on Sunday after a weapon was recovered from an abandoned vehicle allegedly used by him to escape the cops in Mehatpur town on Saturday.
The vehicle, with a .315 bore weapon and 57 live cartridges, was found abandoned at Salema village in the district.
In Amritsar, the Waris Punjab De chief and his seven associates were booked under the sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act after six rifles of .12 bore and a revolver of .32 bore were recovered from the latter in Mehatpur on Saturday.
All the seven associates were arrested on Saturday.
“All are illegal arms. One of the accused, Harminder Singh, who was nabbed from Mehatpur on Saturday, produced a licence of .315 bore rifle and .32 bore revolver. However, this licence too was considered cancelled as Harminder was found to be possessing 139 illegal cartridges (more than what is permitted) of .315 bore rifle and 42 illegal rounds of .32 bore revolver. During questioning, Harminder told us that the ammunition was provided to him by one Gurbhej Singh of Bathinda on the instructions of Amritpal,” Amritsar rural SSP Satinder Singh said.
The seven accused were produced in a court in Baba Bakala and sent to four-day police remand. “During the remand, we will try to ascertain the source of the illegal weapons,” the officer said.
Besides the three fresh FIRs, Singh and his aides are facing four criminal cases involving allegations of spreading communal disharmony, attempt to murder and attacking policemen. Among these was the dramatic February 23 siege by thousands of his supporters of a police station in Amritsar district, which forced the state government to free his aide Lovepreet Tufan who was arrested in an abduction case.
Singh has since been linked to a larger conspiracy involving the Khalistani secessionist movement, with intelligence agencies saying he is fast radicalising young men in the border state. With the state being on high alert, security forces took out flag marches at many places, including Ferozepur, Bathinda, Rupnagar, Faridkot, Batala, Fazilka, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Moga and Jalandhar. In a video message later in the day, inspector general of police Sukhchain Gill requested all citizens to maintain peace and harmony and not panic.
“Punjab Police is acting within the law. Amritpal Singh is still absconding and not yet arrested… Punjab Police is acting within the law. Amritpal Singh is still absconding and not yet arrested,” he said.