Day after house arrest, Sikh ‘preacher’ Amritpal allowed to leave for Haryana

Late on Saturday, Amritpal was allowed to go to Gurdwara Baba Sewa Singh near the house where he was put under arrest.

Amritpal was planning a visit to Gurdwara Nauvi Patshahi, Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar, Jalandhar, to participate in Nagar Kirtan ahead of Gurpurab to celebrate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev when police had put him under house arrest.

SSP Moga Gulneet Singh Chahal said, “We had received some intelligence inputs that there could be a law and order problem in Jalandhar and so we didn’t allow Amritpal to leave for Jalandhar on Saturday. But on Sunday afternoon he left for Haryana as he had already committed to some some programme there. He wasn’t stopped today (Sunday) to go anywhere, he himself left for Haryana. We only stopped him for a brief period in Singhawala village on Saturday evening based on the intel inputs.” Following his house arrest, supporters of Amritpal had staged a dharna on national highway in Jalandhar and even on NH-54 near Behbal Kalan village in Faridkot.

Sukhraj Singh, spokesperson of ‘Waris Punjab de’, said, “We lifted the dharna on Saturday night after we got a message from the local administration that Amritpal’s name will not be added in the FIR related to the murder of Suri without conducting a proper investigation. Amritpal is at present in Haryana for a religious programme.”

Following the murder of Suri, Hindu organisations and family of the Shiv Sena leader have been demanding registration of an FIR against Amritpal as the vehicle of the key accused in Suri’s murder – Sandeep Singh Sunny – allegedly had a sticker of ‘Waris Punjab De’. The accused also had a photograph along with Amritpal, and that image is going viral on social media.

Amritpal has denied his role in Suri’s murder. On the other hand, he questioned police as to “why no action was being taken against Suri’s son for openly threatening Sikhs”.

When asked as to when will Amritpal return, the Moga SSP said, “We have no idea about his programme.”

Meanwhile, it is learnt that Amritpal was welcomed by his supporters from Haryana when he reached Shambhu border on Sunday evening.

“Sudhir Suri wasn’t a representative of Hindus. A Hindu-Sikh narrative is being created by a few people with a vested interest. I will be back from Haryana after a few days as per the programmes chalked out in Punjab,” said Amritpal while interacting with the media on his way to Haryana.