‘Why hasn’t Amritpal been arrested yet?’ HC slams Punjab govt over ‘intelligence failure’

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in a video message in Hindi, said “Punjab is in safe hands” and “those trying to spread hate have all been arrested.”

While Amritpal is still on the run, police arrested his uncle Harjit Singh and several aides and flew them to Assam Tuesday morning. They have been booked under the NSA.

The state government has also extended the suspension of mobile internet services in select districts and areas until Thursday afternoon.

Without naming Amritpal, Mann said, “Some elements were trying to vitiate the environment in the last few days at the behest of some foreign powers… They were making hate speeches, speaking against the law of the land. Action has been taken against them. All of them have been arrested and will be given the harshest punishment. The AAP government will not allow such forces,” he said.

Underlining that Punjabis are known for their large hearts and coming to the help of others, Mann said, “It is easy to provoke the sons of others and seek help for illegal actions. I received many calls from parents who were scared that their children too may join them. I wish to reiterate that our priority is education, laptops and computers, and not illegal arms.”

“I am thankful to the people of the state for their support to the government. Not a single incident of violence was reported. That shows people want peace. I want to make it clear to 130 crore people of the nation that we are a secular party. We do not do politics of hate. For the nation, we will take strong action. If anybody is dreaming of spoiling the peace of the state, we will not allow that to happen… Hundreds of our soldiers are protecting our frontiers. If anybody tries to harm peace and harmony, he will not be spared,” he said.

In the High Court, which was hearing a writ of habeas corpus seeking to produce Amritpal before the court, the bench of Justice N S Shekhawat was informed by Advocate General Vinod Ghai that others accused with Amritpal had been arrested.

The bench wondered how everyone barring Amritpal had been arrested. It told the Advocate General that the state had 80,000 policemen, yet Amritpal had not been arrested. If he escaped, it was an intelligence failure, the bench said.

In his affidavit, SSP Amritsar (Rural) said allegations in the petition that Amritpal was detained from the area of Shahkot in Jalandhar district were wrong. He was neither arrested, nor detained or taken into custody at any point of time, the SSP said.

“Amritpal Singh has been actively abetting/ instigating/provoking/motivating and conspiring to wage war against the State and continuously acting in a manner prejudicial to the security of the State and to the maintenance of public order. He has even made a statement that he does not believe in the Indian Constitution, thereby challenging its supremacy,” the affidavit stated.

“An operation was started to arrest and detain Amritpal Singh and others on March 18, 2023. During this operation, one naka was laid by the police party of Police Station Khilchian, District Amritsar (Rural)… Amritpal Singh and his associates were travelling in a Mercedes car… along with a caravan of 3 more vehicles including one Ford Endeavour… another Endeavour… and one Creta…. They were directed by the police party to stop at the naka, but instead of stopping their vehicles, the cavalcade broke… escaped from the naka,” it stated.

“While Amritpal Singh and his associates were on the run, they were spotted driving rashly and negligently near Government School, Village Salema, Police Station Mehatpur, District Jalandhar (Rural) in one chocolate-coloured Isuzu pickup… Amritpal was carrying one .315 rifle and brandishing the same with an objective of creating fear amongst the public,” it stated.

According to the SSP, a proposal to detain Amritpal was prepared and sent to the District Magistrate of Amritsar who “issued detention orders along with detailed grounds of detention under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980 for detaining Amritpal” and others on March 18.