Amritpal Singh’s close aide Papalpreet arrested in Amritsar under NSA

He was arrested from Kathunangal area of Amritsar district, Inspector General (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill told reporters. “He (Papalpreet) is the main associate of Amritpal Singh,” the officer said.

Gill said Papalpreet was detained under the stringent National Security Act, adding that six other cases were also registered against him.

An alleged Khalistan activist, Papalpreet called himself a journalist, writer and photographer before he became Amritpal’s media adviser. From Marari village in Amritsar district, he was first arrested in 2015 for alleged links to Pakistan’s ISI after being booked along with organisers of the 2015 Sarbat Khalsa in a sedition case.

He was again arrested in 2016 when the police cracked down on an attempt to hold a second Sarbat Khalsa at Takht Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda.

He formed an organisation called Sikh Youth Front in 2015 and later joined Shiromani Akali Dal (Mann) for a brief period before parting ways.

“Papalpreet Singh was arrested after multiple police teams carried out a special operation with assistance from the counter intelligence wing. Our teams carried out the search operation over the past three days after receiving critical information about Papalpreet’s location,” Gill said.

Papalpreet’s family members claimed they came to know of his arrest from the media. “We had no information of the arrest. We came to know about the arrest from the media. Police did not inform us,” his wife Rajwinder Kaur told reporters.

She said Papalpreet was not involved in the Ajnala violence on February 23 when Amritpal and his supporters, armed with swords, removed barricades and stormed a police station to demand the release of an associate, Lovepreet Singh Toofan, who was arrested in a separate case of rioting and kidnapping. They took Toofan out of the police station and fled from the spot.

“He was not present in Ajnala at the time of clash between police and protesters. He was in Amritsar and went to Ajnala in the evening. He did nothing wrong,” Rajwinder said.

Papalpreet was being questioned on the whereabouts of Amritpal, the police said.

According to sources in the police, Papalpreet and Amritpal were separated when their movement was traced near Hoshiarpur on March 28 night. Later, Papalpreet was spotted in CCTV footage at a dera in Tanauli, 2 km from Marnaian village, where police had launched a search for the two.

Incidentally, hours before the announcement of Papalpreet’s arrest was made, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav was in Amritsar on Monday.

“Everyone wanted by the law will be arrested,” he told reporters.

On whether Amritpal could be hiding a some religious place, he said, “Religious places should not be used for personal gains. We will maintain peace in the state and the miscreants will be dealt with strictness. No one, including Pakistan and any agency, will be allowed to disrupt peace in state.”

“Today, I have come to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple for the prosperity and peace of Punjab. I also want to say that Punjab Police and Punjabis will not allow anyone to disturb the state’s peace. Those living in foreign countries and having support of Pakistan’s ISI are trying to disturb Punjab’s peace. Their intentions will not be successful,” the DGP said.