Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh brought to Dibrugarh Central Jail following his arrest from Punjab's Moga on Sunday. (PTI Photo)Amritpal Singh News Highlights: Pro-Khalistan preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh has been taken to the Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam after he was arrested by the Punjab police from the Moga district Sunday morning. Dibrugarh jail has been converted into a high-security jail ever since some of Singh’s associates were brought to be lodged there. According to a PTI report, Amritpal landed at the Dibrugarh airport at around 2:20 pm from Bathinda and he has been kept in a special cell under tight security. A team from Punjab Police is present in the jail along with personnel of the Assam Police, the report stated.
Amritpal Singh was arrested from Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sant Khalsa of Rode village in Moga, the native village of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In a video taken shortly before he was arrested, Amritpal justified his decision to evade the Punjab police, stating that the last one month “exposed” the real face of the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government.
Amritpal had been on the run since March 18, when Punjab Police launched a major crackdown on members of his ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit. Singh has been booked under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) and faces over half-a-dozen charges such as attempt to murder, abduction and extortion.
Pro-Khalistan preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh should have been arrested a month back, but it is good that he is behind bars, former Punjab chief minister and BJP leader Amarinder Singh said Monday.
The Punjab Police arrested Amritpal Singh in Rode village in Moga district early Sunday, ending an over a month-long manhunt against the preacher who styled himself after Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Read more
It was around midnight on Saturday when a senior Punjab Intelligence Bureau official woke up Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The news that he had to break to Mann was as important as it was explosive. Fugitive pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh, who had been on the run for 36 days after giving the police a slip on March 18 when a crackdown on him and his outfit Waris Punjab De was launched — had been spotted at Rode village in Moga. Continue..
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday dismissed as infructuous a habeas corpus plea filed last month claiming that Amritpal Singh was in the “illegal custody” of police, after Punjab government informed that the pro-Khalistan preacher was arrested on Sunday.
The plea had been moved by Imaan Singh Khara, the legal advisor of Amritpal and his outfit Waris Punjab De, on March 19, seeking the production of the preacher from alleged illegal police custody. In earlier hearings, the Punjab government had maintained that Amritpal had neither been detained nor arrested following which court had even asked the petitioner to show evidence that the preacher was in illegal custody. Read more
The Punjab Police had registered two FIRs against Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh on February 22, a day before the violence at a police station in the state’s Ajnala and both were kept under wraps. They are not available on the police website as yet.
The pro-Khalistan preacher was arrested by the Punjab Police in the Moga district on Sunday and sent to a jail in Assam after being on the run for more than a month. Read more
The district police on Sunday held flag marches in the city following the arrest of Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh. Police officials said that the flag marches were conducted to keep an eye on anti-social elements.
The marches were held in Mohali and Kharar. The police officials spoke to the representatives of the religious places and appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony. Read more
The Shiromani Akali Dal Sunday claimed that Amritpal Singh surrendered before the police as per the advice of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh.
“Following the peaceful manner in which Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh handed himself over to the law, the Aam Aadmi Party government should proceed against him only as per law and put an immediate end to the prosecution and harassment of innocent Sikhs,” party spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said. Read more
A polytechnic college dropout who drove trucks as part of family’s transport business in Dubai and joined an audio room as a listener, on social media app ClubHouse set up by Deep Sidhu, Amritpal Singh had had a slow start before he burst on to the Punjab scene by taking over a “social organisation” created by the actor-activist with a dastarbandi ceremony at the native village of slain Khalistan terrorist Jartnail Singh Bhindranwale.
From being a listener, in just about 18 months, Amritpal turned into a pro-Khalitan preacher, created a huge following taking out a Khalsa Vaheer by asking youths to get baptised, set up his own private army, even set up some de-addiction centres, issued veiled threats to political leaders, stormed a police station complex, was booked under the stringent National Security Act, and turned a fugitive before finally giving up on Saturday when he was arrested and sent to a jail in Assam after being on the run for 36 days. Read more
Radical Sikh self-styled preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh was arrested by the Punjab police from the Moga district on Sunday morning after a month-long chase. According to the police, Amritpal was apprehended from Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sant Khalsa located in Moga’s Rode village — the native village of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Inspector General (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said, “Amritpal was arrested after concrete operational information. We had located him in Rode village after intelligence inputs, and this village was cornered by Punjab Police teams.” (Read More)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Sunday claimed that radical preacher Amritpal Singh surrendered before the police as per the advice of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh.
In a statement here, the party said, “Following the peaceful manner in which Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh handed himself over to the law, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government should proceed against him only as per law and put an immediate end to the prosecution and harassment of innocent Sikhs.” On March 25, the Jathedar of Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of Sikhs, had asked Amritpal to surrender before police and cooperate with investigation.
SAD spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said now that Amritpal Singh submitted to the majesty of the law, it was incumbent on the AAP government to explain why it had created a “fear psychosis” on this issue, according to the statement. (PTI)
Police took out a flag march in Bathinda on Sunday following the arrest of Khalistan supporter and 'Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh from Punjab's Moga.
"Earlier also we have been taking out flag marches. The situation is normal and peaceful," Bathinda Superintendent of Police Gurvinder Singh said. "Police are determined to maintain law and order. We are reaching every nook and corner of the city," he added.
On Sunday morning, 'Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh was arrested and was brought to Air Force Station, Bathinda by Punjab Police, from where he was shifted to a prison in Assam's Dibrugarh.
Soon after Amritpal Singh's arrest from Moga's Gurudwara, Punjab Police urged people to maintain peace and harmony and refrain from sharing any fake news. (ANI)
Most residents of Kular in Jalandhar, the ancestral village of Amritpal Singh’s wife, said the recent ‘harassment’ of his wife at the Amritsar airport might have forced the fugitive ‘Sikh preacher’ to surrender.
Amritpal Singh’s in-laws have settled in the United Kingdom for several decades now, but they have their ancestral home in Kular and visit the place occasionally.
Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh tied the knot with Kirandeep Kaur in February this year. Amritpal Singh was on the run since March 18 when the Punjab Police made an unsuccessful attempt to arrest him in Jalandhar’s Shahkot area. (Read More)
Family members of radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who was arrested from Punjab's Moga district on Sunday morning, said they felt relieved on seeing him after more than a month and would fight their legal battle.
“We came to know through the media at 7:15 am that he has been arrested,” Amritpal's uncle Sukhchain Singh said in Amritsar. “Today, the family is feeling worry-free. We have seen him (Amritpal),” he said.
Replying to a question, Amritpal's uncle said the family will go to Assam's Dibrugarh and meet him. “We will fight our legal battle,” he further said. "Police said that Amritpal was arrested while Jasbir Singh Rode, former Jathedar of the Akal Takht, said he surrendered. It will be clear in a day or two," Sukhchain Singh said. (PTI)
Shortly after Amritpal Singh was arrested from Moga, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Sunday sought to know if the Khalistan sympathiser had "a connection with someone in the central government or state government".
"...Who helped the anti-India propagandist and supporter of terrorists, Amritpal Singh escape in the first instance?... Where was Amritpal hidden? Who gave him shelter? Where did he stay? Aren't all those forces anti-India? Who is his accomplice? Why aren't the Punjab police, CBI, and IB disclosing it? Foreign powers in Pakistan and also elsewhere are supporting him, why isn't the government coming forward and disclosing it?" Surjewala asked.
"Who are the co-conspirators of the Amritpal operation from India and also elsewhere and what action will the government of India and the government of Pubjab take against it? Does Amritpal have a connection with someone in the central government or in the state government?" he added. (PTI)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday said that following the peaceful manner in which Waris Punjab De (WPD) chief Amritpal Singh had handed himself over to the authorities, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government should proceed against him only as per the law and put an immediate end to the prosecution and harassment of innocent Sikhs.
In a statement, SAD spokesperson Dr Daljit Singh Cheema welcomed the decision of Amritpal to hand himself over to the law as per the advice given by the Akal Takht Jathedar at the panthic ekath held recently to discuss the entire issue. (Read More)
The AAP government is committed to ensure peace and security in Punjab for which it will even take "tough decisions", party's national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.
“We are committed to the peace and security in Punjab. We are also ready to take tough decisions for this,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi after the radical preacher was apprehended.
He appreciated Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for accomplishing the “mission” with maturity and courage, and also thanked the people of the state for maintaining peace and supporting the government. (PTI)
Hours after the arrest of Waris Punjab De (WPD) chief Amritpal Singh on Sunday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said he was awake all night on Saturday ever since they received news of the self-styled preacher’s presence in Rode village. The chief minister added that if the authorities had arrested Amritpal on March 18 – the day on which he went on the run – “then bullets would have been fired” which he wanted to avoid.
Thanking people for maintaining harmony in the state, Mann said in a video message, “Whatever happened, we got the information last night. I was awake the whole night. I was talking to police officers every 15 minutes. I wanted all this to end smoothly and peacefully.” (Read More)
The Punjab Police arrested Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh from Gurdwara Sant Khalsa in Rode village under Moga district Sunday morning. Just before Amritpal was taken into custody, videos of him at the gurdwara had gone viral.
Before these videos were posted on social media, Amritpal Singh had released three other videos in which he tried to defend his run from the police. Interestingly, the Khalistan ideologue did not use the term, Khalistan, in any of the videos.
Amritpal Singh was on the run since March 18. Meanwhile, some pictures and CCTV videos were also released by the police in which he was seen travelling to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. (Read More)
“Amritpal had reached Rode Saturday late night. I was informed by police that he will surrender from our village. I got know around midnight and soon I left for Rode. I reached Rode around 4 am where he was already present. When I met him, he himself told that he was going to surrender. Amritpal had informed the police last night itself that he will surrender today morning after paying obeisance at the gurdwara. He also addressed the sangat (congregation) for a few minutes before the surrender. Had the police arrested him, would they have allowed him to address? He was all prepared and packed his clothes, combs etc. The police took him away around 7 am. He surrendered in my presence,” said Jasvir Rode, former Akal Takht Jathedar and Bhindranwale’s nephew.
? "It had been 35 days. Today Amritpal Singh was arrested. Action will be taken against those who try to disrupt the country's peace and law. We will not disturb any innocent person. We don't do vendetta politics..." said Mann.
? He further thanked the people for maintaining peace and harmony in the state and said that even though there have been multiple efforts to disrupt the harmony, it has not been successful.
? "In front of the police station in Ajnala, some people had brought the palanquin in which the Guru Granth Sahib is carried and made it a shield and went inside the police station. On that day also instructions were given to DGP that no matter what happens, the dignity of Guru Granth Sahib and his honour should not be affected. Neither did we use any water cannons nor did we throw pebbles. Although some police personnel were definitely injured. We will do anything for the respect and honour of Guru Granth Sahib that is in the people's minds. The Punjab Police was praised for controlling the situation with great restraint," he said. (PTI)
In the lead-up to the radical pro-Khalistan preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh’s arrest on Sunday, Punjab politics remained on the boil. The Punjab police had launched its crackdown on Amritpal and his aides on March 18.
A defiant Punjab Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Mann vowed to go after Amritpal.
Mann’s crackdown operation also got appreciation from the BJP, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma offering fulsome praises for the CM’s move. (Read More)
? A special flight carrying radical preacher Amritpal Singh from Punjab landed at Dibrugarh airport on Sunday, officials said. According to official sources, Singh was brought aboard a special flight from Bathinda after his arrest by Punjab Police during early Sunday morning.
? He will be taken to the town's central jail which has been converted into a high security jail ever since some of Singh's associates were brought here to be lodged.
? 'His flight landed at 2:20 pm. After necessary formalities, he will be taken to Dibrugarh Central Jail in a security convoy,' a senior official told PTI.
? Dibrugarh Traffic Police has been alerted for road clearance from the airport to the prison, a 15-km stretch. A special team is in place along with policemen in plain clothes. (PTI)
Tarsem Singh, father of Waris Punjab De's Amritpal Singh says, "...Through TV we came to know that he surrendered before the Police. We too wanted the same because people were being harassed due to him...We will fight the case, the entire community should fight it, he was working to save people from the drug menace; an offer has been made to us for it..."
Waris Punjab De's Amritpal Singh's mother Balwinder Kaur says, 'We saw the news and came to know that he has surrendered. I felt proud that he surrendered like a warrior...We will fight a legal battle and we will also go & meet him at the earliest.' She also said that her son was doing a good job weaning people away from drugs, but instead of catching those who were spreading this disease of drugs in Punjab, the police instead caught him. His mother also expressed her happiness and pride that he has maintained his Sikh identity.
Addressing a press conference, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the state will take action against "those who try to disrupt the country's peace and law".
Hours after pro-Khalistan preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann will address the media at 2 pm.
Hours after pro-Khalistan preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann will address the media at 2 pm.
Security has been beefed up in Dibrugarh as pro-Khalistan radical preacher Amritpal Singh will be shifted to a prison in the Upper Assam town from Punjab on Sunday, police said. Punjab Police Inspector General Sukhchain Singh Gill said Amritpal Singh will be taken to Dibrugarh under the National Security Act (NSA).
A multi-tier security arrangement has been made at the Central Jail in Dibrugarh where Singh will be lodged, a senior official told PTI. "The jail compound has been surrounded by Assam Police's elite Black Cat Commandos, CRPF and jail security personnel. The security inside the prison has also been tightened," he said. (PTI)
Delhi Minister and AAP Leader Atishi congratulated the Punjab Police and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for carrying out the restless search for the Pro Khalistan group Waris Punjab De leader Amritpal Singh and arresting him.
Pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh was arrested by the Punjab police in the Moga district, two days after his wife Kirandeep Kaur was stopped from boarding a flight to London at the Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport and sent back to her husband’s home in Amritsar’s Jallupur Khera. Why was she stopped? Read here
In a video, Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh said, "...I had said earlier also there was no fear of earlier also and there is no fear now. But the almighty makes things happen to expose the face of the state. I have all the ways open to escape to foreign countries. But I am not the kind of person who would go to another country when my companions are in trouble".
In a video shot shortly before his arrest in slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's village in Rode, Amritpal Singh explained why he was on the run for 36 days. "I would have happily given my arrest if police had asked for it after coming to my home. But the method they adopt, took one month and the face of the state has been exposed in front of the world".
"I Could have gone to another country, but not one to dessert people, and hence surrendered," he added.
Radical Sikh self-styled preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh was arrested by the Punjab police from the Moga district on Sunday morning after a month-long chase. According to the police, Amritpal was apprehended from Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sant Khalsa located in Moga’s Rode village — the native village of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. We explain
The high-decibel protests abroad against the Punjab government crackdown on Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh, and their relative absence in the state, once again underline the foreign support that sustains the separatist agenda in Punjab.
It’s no secret that the Khalistan agenda has also been largely kept alive from foreign soil. A top police officer, formerly posted in Punjab, points out how several targeted killings in 2016-17 including that of RSS leader Brig Jagdish Gagneja and earlier of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat president Prof Rulda Singh in 2009 were plotted abroad. In the Rulda Singh case, three British NRIs were held in 2010. Manraj Grewal Sharma writes
More than a month after eluding police, self-styled pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh was arrested from Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sant Khalsa at Rode in Punjab’s Moga district Sunday. Rode is the ancestral village of slain Khalistani ideologue Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, popularly known as ‘Sant’ among the state’s rural masses.
Bhindranwale’s family, including his brothers and nephews, still live in Rode and the place where he was born has been turned into a gurdwara from where Amritpal was arrested. Bhindranwale was also the head of the Damdami Taksal, the oldest Sikh seminary in Punjab. The gurdwara is managed by the Damdami Taksal. Divya Goyal reports
Contrary to popular belief, Amritpal Singh was not appointed head of Waris Punjab De (WPD) in September 2022 at Rode village in Moga. He anointed himself head of the organization on March 04, 2022. The announcement was made on a letter pad embedded with a QR code, which was a Google form to become a member of the organization.
Membership was open for most countries where Sikhs lived in good numbers. The form also asked members about their skills and included a WhatsApp number. The letter pad did not contain the name of any office-bearer of WPD, only a stamp of WPD. It had pictures of Deep Sidhu and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale but no signatures of any office-bearers. Kamaldeep Singh Brar reports
Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh was arrested from Punjab's Moga village. The district is home to Rode, the ancestral village of slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, popularly called “Sant” by rural masses in the state. While Khalistani sentiment hardly resonates with Sikhs in modern-day Punjab, the rural folks from Rode and other Moga villages still idolise Bhindranwale and view him as “one of their own”. From our archives for you: read here
In a press conference, IGP Gill said, “Amritpal was arrested after a concrete operational information. We had located him in Rode village after intelligence inputs, and this village was cornered by Punjab Police teams".
Soon after pro-radical preacher Amritpal Singh was arrested in Punjab, AAP Minister in Delhi, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, "The (Punjab) government handled this sensitively. No violence was reported. This is a very big achievement for Punjab Police," news agency PTI reported.
Addressing a press conference, Punjab's Inspector General (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said that Amritpal Singh had "no chance to escape as police surrounded the village".
Amritpal Singh, chief of Waris Punjab De, who was arrested Sunday morning, has been booked under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) and faces over half-a-dozen charges such as attempt to murder, abduction and extortion.
The first case against Amritpal was registered on February 16 for kidnapping and assault of a person. Subsequently, he was charged with attempt to murder after he and his followers stormed the Ajnala police station complex on February 23, and injured several policemen as they tried to free an aide arrested for abduction. Here is the date-wise list of cases against the self-styled preacher who was on the run for 36 days. Read here
Stating that the people of Punjab maintained peace during the entire operation to arrest Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh, Inspector General (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said "no one will be allowed to disturb communal harmony in the state".
Addressing a press conference, Punjab Inspector General (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill, said that the state police had been under "relentless" pressure over the last 36 days. Gill said that Amritpal was arrested at 6:45 am outside the gurdwara in Rode, keeping in mind 'Maryada' (Sikh code of conduct).
Amritpal Singh's arrest comes two months after hundreds of his followers clashed with the police outside Ajnala police station near Amritsar, Punjab.
Amritpal Singh, 29, is a follower of pro-Khalistan slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In fact, he is being dubbed ‘Bhindranwale 2.0’ in Punjab these days. Amritpal returned from Dubai last year to take the reins of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ organisation following the death of its founder, actor-activist Deep Sidhu. ‘Waris Punjab De’ works to help the youth of the state “follow the tenets of Sikhism” and “establish Khalsa Raj”. Who is he and what is Waris Punjab De? We explain
Soon after his arrest, Punjab Police urged people across the state to maintain peace and not share fake news.
“#AmritpalSingh arrested in Moga, Punjab. Further details will be shared by #PunjabPolice. Urge citizens to maintain peace and harmony. Don’t share any fake news, always verify and share,” it said in a tweet.
In their first reaction after Punjab Police arrested Amritpal Singh after the fugitive surrendered in Rode village in the Moga district early Sunday morning, the Waris Punjab De chief’s family members heaved a sigh of relief, saying “dilemma had ended”, paving the way for a “legal fight now”.
Concerned about his fate, Amritpal’s family had been maintaining that the self-proclaimed Sikh preacher did not contact his family while he was on the run. Amritpal’s paternal uncle Sukhchain Singh said, “This (the arrest) has put an end to the dilemma the family had been going through”. Navjeevan Gopal reports
In a video taken shortly before he was arrested, Amritpal justified his decision to evade the Punjab police, stating that the last one month “exposed” the real face of the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government. “I may be an accused in the court but not an accused in the court of Almighty,” he said.
In case you've missed out, here's a quick recap of what happened this Sunday morning!
? After a month-long chase, Waris Punjab De leader and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh surrendered before the Punjab police and was arrested from the Moga district on Sunday morning. Speaking to The Indian Express, Special Director General of Police (Internal Security) R N Dhoke said, “Amritpal has been arrested from Moga district today morning..”
? Singh will be shifted to Assam’s Dibrugarh jail, where nine of his aides, including Papalpreet and Daljit Singh Kalsi, are currently lodged.
? Amritpal Singh was arrested from Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sant Khalsa of Rode village in Moga, the native village of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Amritpal had been on the run since March 18, when Punjab Police launched a major crackdown on members of his ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit.
? On April 21, Amritpal Singh’s wife Kirandeep Kaur was stopped from boarding a flight to London at the Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport and sent back to her husband’s home in Amritsar’s Jallupur Khera.
Ending a month-long chase, pro-Khalistan preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh was arrested by the Punjab police under the National Security Act (NSA) from the Moga district Sunday morning. He is likely to be shifted to Assam’s Dibrugarh jail, where nine of his aides are currently lodged.
Amritpal Singh was arrested from Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sant Khalsa of Rode village in Moga, the native village of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Good morning! Welcome to today's live blog. After a month-long chase, Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh was arrested from Punjab's Moga district. Stay tuned for live updates!