The Punjab government Tuesday informed the the high court that they were coordinating with several agencies and close to catching fugitive Amritpal Singh, the assertion coming after the pro-Khalistan preacher's counsel claimed that he was being held in illegal custody. Incidentally, a fresh CCTV footage emerged later in the day purportedly showing Amritpal moving without a turban and wearing a mask followed by his key associate Papalpreet Singh in a Delhi market area. Amritpal has been on the run since a police crackdown on him and his outfit — Waris Punjab De — began on March 18. While Punjab Police have detained and arrested a number of his associates, and invoked the stringent National Security Act against at least eight, including Amritpal, the radical preacher has continued to elude forces. Several images and videos have since then emerged on social media showing him changing his vehicles and appearance multiple times to dodge police. Earlier in the day, the Punjab and Haryana High Court took up for hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Advocate Imaan Singh Khara claiming that Amritpal was in the "illegal custody" of Punjab Police. Punjab Advocate General Vinod Ghai, however, told the court that Amritpal has not been arrested yet and they were coordinating with multiple agencies to nab him. Upon this, the bench of Justice NS Shekhawat asked Khara to file an affidavit to produce evidence that Amritpal was in police custody and pointed out that the state's stand was that the preacher had not been arrested. If provided evidence, Justice Shekhawat said, the court would direct the relevant officials to conduct a raid and provide relief to the petitioner. The court, while fixing March 29 as the next date of hearing in the case, directed Punjab government to file an affidavit, through the concerned Inspector General of police. Hearing other habeas corpus petitions filed by the relatives of some of the detained accused, including Gurinder Pal alias Gur Aujla, Gagandeep Singh, Harpal Singh and Davinder Singh — all accomplices of Amritpal Singh — the HC issued notice to the Punjab government to file a reply. The petitions would also come up for hearing on March 29. The HC, however, by issuing notice to Punjab government, adjourned the hearing of the habeas corpus plea filed by wife of actor Sarabjit Singh alias Daljit Kalsi for April 11. Kalsi’s wife had filed the plea to produce her husband, who is she claimed being kept illegally in Assam's Dibrugarh Jail. Seven associates of Amritpal, including Kalsi, against whom the NSA has been invoked, have been shifted to the high security Dibrugarh Central jail by the Punjab government. Intelligence agencies have also found CCTV footage from March 21, from Sai Chowk in Madhu Vihar of New Delhi, that purportedly shows Amritpal and Papalpreet walking on the streets. In the footage, a man who purportedly looks like Amritpal is seen sporting a different look — his hair hanging loose, with no turban and his face covered with a mask. The man is wearing a jacket and glasses and is walking ahead of another man who is wearing a turban, glasses and mask. There is no official word from Punjab Police on the fresh footage. The video has emerged a day after two new photographs of Amritpal and Papalpreet, including a selfie, was shared on social media. The photographs were most likely taken on March 18. In the first photo, the preacher and associate are seen sitting on a modified motor-cart with a motorcycle. In the other photo, a selfie, Amritpal and Papalpreet holding beverage cans, look relaxed. In both the photos, both are seen wearing sweatshirts with the preacher donning a maroon turban in the popular style — one that he adopted while being on the run — and not the traditional blue one.
