Guiding Amritpal in his escape, a ‘journalist’ under I-T scanner over unaccounted income
Papalpreet Singh, 38, is on the run along with Amritpal since the Punjab Police launched a crackdown on the latter and his associates on March 18.
5 min read
Papalpreet SinghA self-proclaimed journalist, who was last seen with pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh, allegedly arranged his stay in Haryana’s Krukshetra and later helped him escape by changing disguise, is also under the scanner of the Income Tax department, which had served a notice asking to explain the source of an unaccounted Rs 4.48 lakh that was credited into his account.
Papalpreet Singh, 38, is on the run along with Amritpal since the Punjab Police launched a crackdown on the latter and his associates on March 18. He and Amritpal were last seen on March 19 at the residence of former’s friend Baljit Kaur Kurukshetra’s Shahbad. The duo left her house on March 20. Kaur was later arrested on charges of harbouring and abetting the duo’s escape.
The investigating agencies have found that Papalpreet left a bag with Baljit Kaur and had told her that “someone will come and collect it in a day or so”.
The bag, now seized by the Punjab Police, contained two sets of white Kurtas, a cardigan and a Siri Sahib — a dagger that symbolises a Sikh’s duty to come to the defence of those in peril. The investigating agencies are suspecting that Papalpreet and Amritpal may have changed their looks and changed into totally different types of attires to evade arrest.
The bag also contained an Income Tax notice issued to Papalpreet for his failure to declare his known sources of income and not filing the returns for at least three years since 2019.
Papalpreet, who hold a post graduate diploma in Computer Science and a three-year polytechnic diploma, was first arrested in 2015 and booked for sedition after the Punjab Police linked him with Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI.
A media advisor of Amritpal, Papalpreet was seen walking ahead of Amritpal in the latest videos from Kurukshetra in Haryana. Through these clips, the investigating agencies are trying to establish Amritpal and Papalpreet’s trail.
Sources disclosed that Papalpreet claimed to be a video-journalist and an activist. It was also found out that he had joined Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) in 2017 but quit within nine months. Papalpreet also ran a website that the investigating agencies say was identified as a “Khalistan propaganda site”.
The investigating agencies also found out that the bank account information that Papalpreet provided while filing I-T returns for the year 2018-19 was “non-existent”.
In December 2022, a notice was issued to him by the I-T department wherein he was asked to declare his sources of income, details about movable and immovable properties and bank accounts. In response to this notice, Papalpreet on February 14 had declared that he earns approximately Rs 8,000-20,000 per month from YouTube and Rs 15,000 from his dairy business.
The I-T department, however, on March 14 asked him to submit credit transactions along with documents supporting his claim. The department made it clear that Papalpreet had not submitted his returns for the financial year of 2019-20 during which he had a credit entry of Rs 4,48,868 in his bank account and that needed to be explained. The department informed Papalpreet that his assessment had been flagged as “High Risk-CRIU (Case Related Information Upload”.
An internal note of the department stated that Papalpreet is a journalist based out of Amritsar who runs the website “Punjab Shield”, which is essentially a Khalistani propaganda site.
The sleuths also said Papalpreet has been active in Punjab even before Waris Punjab De came into existence. They said he was taking instructions from the Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI to raise the bogey of Khalistan in Punjab and was working to plunge the state into the dark days of terrorism.
They said it was on Papalpreet’s instructions that Amritpal changed his appearance from a radical Sikh preacher to an ordinary person and finally abandoned the motorcycle at a canal in Phillaur.
Papalpreet faces four criminal cases, include one under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and for the Ajnala police station incident.
The previous Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government had booked Papalpreet Singh along with the main organisers of the November 2015 Sarbat Khalsa under charges of sedition for alleged links with the ISI.
An FIR also mentions the messages read out on stage of Sarbat Khalsa. “At the gathering, Papalpreet Singh Marari read a provocative message from dangerous jailed terrorist of Babar Khalsa Narain Singh Chaura. In the same event, one more dangerous convicted terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara was appointed Jathedar of Akal Takht,” reads the FIR registered at the Chatiwind police station in Amritsar on November 12.
The FIR was lodged under Sections 124A, 153-A, 153-B, 115, 117, 120-B of the IPC and Section 13(1) of the UAPA and Section 66-F of the Information Technology Act. According to the law, these violations are described as sedition against the Indian government, promoting enmity between groups, abetting a criminal offense, cyber terrorism and conspiracy.
In 2016, Papalpreet was once again arrested when the police cracked down on Sarbat Khalsa organisers to foil their attempt to hold the second Sarbat Khalsa at Takht Damdma Sahib Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda.
Papalpreet also reportedly ran a drive against drug smugglers in 2019. He had alleged that the police implicated him in a fake attempt to murder case for running the drive against drug smugglers.
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