Bike on which Amritpal Singh fled found; Cong 'dumbstruck' at police ‘failure’
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Warring said from the police's account of how Amritpal Singh fled, it seems that Amritpal Singh had planned his escape in advance.
The bike on which radical Sikh leader Amritpal Singh reportedly fled from the gurdwara where he took refuge on Saturday noon being chased by the police has been recovered, the police said on Wednesday. The bike was found abandoned in Darapur village, around 60 km from Nanagal Ambian, the police said amid a row over the crackdown on Waris Punjab De while Amritpal remains elusive. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Raja Warring on Wednesday wrote a letter to Punjab DGP over the crackdown on radical Sikh leader Amritpal Singh and asked how did Amritpal manage to flee the police by changing vehicles and clothes if he did not have inputs of the police action. "I have always been appreciative of the capabilities of Punjab Police under your able leadership as Director General, but I am dumbstruck and aghast at the failure of the Punjab Police," the Congress leader wrote. Read |‘Amritpal Singh spent 45 minutes in gurdwara, took priest’s phone': Report
The Punjab Police on Tuesday released 7 photos of the fugitive radical leader and said he might have changed his appearance. During the chase, Amritpal Singh hid at a gurudwara and from there, he escaped in a motorbike changing his clothes, the police said. Read | Who is Kirandeep Kaur, fugitive Amritpal Singh's wife?
"He surely must have planned to position such vehicles, arrange dresses and motorcycle riders much in advance. This is an indicative of utter failure of intelligence agencies keeping tab on his activities or it may have happened on the tacit orders of Union home minister/state chief minister who are always keen on earning political mileage out of every happening," the Congres leader wrote.
Why the entire area was not cordoned off and why the other chase routes were not blocked, the Congress leader asked.
"...to cover up this failure of Punjab Police to nab Amritpal Singh, the police is rounding up a large number of youths who are branded as associated of Amritpal Singh. No doubt some young boys must have been misguided by his religious sermons, yet I feel that branding them as hardcore antinational elements will further alienate these young people..." Warring wrote.
'Why you didn't arrest Amritpal in Amritsar'
Congress's Pratap Singh Bajwa said Amritpal could have been arrested from his village in Amritsar but the operation was done in the Jalandhar area eyeing at Jalandhar bypolls.
The Punjab Police on saturday launched a massive crackdown on Waris Punjab De and its chief Amritpal Singh who was travelling. During the chase, Amritpal changed routes 3-4 times, drove through a police check post and brandished his rifle to create fear among the public. At 1pm, Amritpal and 4 of his men hid in a gurdwara. Amritpal changed clothes there, reportedly took the the gurudwara priests's sons clothes and turban and then escaped on a motorbike.
