‘Amritpal came to our gurdwara, changed clothes and fled’

Ranjit Singh said he had no idea then about the police action against Amritpal.

Picture of Amritpal Singh released by the Punjab Police.

“When I heard he was here, I was very worried because I thought his men may have come to break something as they had done in Jalandhar,” he recalled.

He said he heaved a sigh of relief when one of the four men accompanying Amritpal said they needed clothes since they had to go to a “programme”.

“I was surprised but I did what they said and got my son’s clothes,” Ranjit said.

Amritpal then told Ranjit’s wife to get him a long trouser which she did.

Police have released seven photographs of the Khalistan sympathiser, including some in which he is not wearing a turban, to seek public help to nab the fugitive.

Amritpal and his men sat down for langar and spent around 45 minutes in the gurdwara. “I heard them inquire on the phone about the ‘mahaul’, but I did not connect the dots then,” Ranjit said.

Later, Amritpal asked him whether he could use his phone. “When he was leaving, I asked for my phone. He said he was going just around the corner and would return it.”

Ranjit said he waited at the village chowk and Amritpal returned shortly. He handed him the phone and left.

He said Amritpal had come in a Brezza. He said only when he heard the news, he realised what had happened. He said he was very scared and didn’t inform anyone, fearing that the police would treat him as an accomplice.

On Tuesday, police picked up Ranjit for questioning but released him once the village panchayat vouched for his credentials.

The Brezza was also recovered and four persons were arrested. A video clip showing Amritpal in the Brezza did the rounds of social media.

A photograph of Amritpal Singh released by the Punjab Police.

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Punjab IG (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said after changing vehicles and escaping in a Brezza, Amritpal reached Gurdwara Nangal Ambian and changed clothes.

He said the details emerged after the interrogation of four persons who helped Amritpal flee in the Brezza – he identified the four as Manpreet Singh alias Manna, a resident of Nawan Kila village near Shahkot; Gurdeep Singh alias Deepa, a resident of Bal Nau village near Nakodar; Harpreet Singh alias Happy, a resident of Kotla Naud Singh in Hoshiarpur district; and Gurbhej Singh alias Bheja, a resident of Gondara village in Faridkot district.

Three other persons on two motorcycles, Gill said, helped Amritpal escape further from the Nangal Ambian gurdwara – all remain at large. While fleeing, Amritpal left his kirpan behind.

Police have released seven photos of Amritpal in different attire, appealing to the public to help nab him. In one of the photographs, Amritpal has a clean shaven look.