Who is Papalpreet, the self-proclaimed journalist who left a bag with Baljit Kaur?

The investigating agencies have also found out that Papalpreet had left a bag with Baljit Kaur and had told her that “someone will come and collect it in a day or so”.

The bag, which has now been 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 now suspecting that both Papalpreet and Amritpal may have changed their looks and worn totally different types of attires to evade their 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 IT returns for at least three years since 2019.

In 2015, Papalpreet, a post graduate diploma in Computer Science and a three-year polytechnic diploma, was arrested after the police linked him with Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and booked for sedition.

The bag, which has now been 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.

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 Simranjeet Singh Mann’s party 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 in his Income Tax Returns for the year 2018-19, when verified, were found to be “non-existent”. “The bank has informed that such a bank account does not exist,” an officer investigating the case told The Indian Express.

In December 2022, a notice was also issued to him by the Income Tax 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 had declared that he earns approximately Rs 8,000-20,000 per month from YouTube and Rs 15,000 from his dairy business. However, the income tax department was dissatisfied with his reply and asked him to explain a credit of a few lakh rupees in his bank account which did not corroborate with his known sources of income.

The sleuths also said Papalpreet has been active in Punjab even before Waris Punjab De came into existence.

The erstwhile Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) 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.