Did Amritpal Singh surrender or was he arrested?

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, April 23

Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh was ‘arrested’ in Punjab's Moga district on Sunday, more than a month after the state police launched a crackdown against him following the storming of the Ajnala police station by his supporters to secure the release of an arrested associate.

IG Sukhchain Singh Gill, who is the spokesperson of Punjab Police, said Amritpal was arrested at 6:45 am from Rode village. “We had special inputs that he was hiding in Rode village gurdwara. We had gheraoed the gurdwara but didn’t enter as the maryada of a religious place is supreme for us. Amritpal courted arrest as he had no place to run," said Sukhchain Singh.

A few pictures of the radical preacher while being taken into custody surfaced on social media and in these, he could be seen wearing a traditional white robe. 

Meanwhile, in a video that surfaced on social media, Amritpal Singh purportedly addressed a gathering at a gurdwara in Rode village in Moga, and says he was “surrendering”.

“It is the birth place of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. This is the place where my 'dastar bandi' (turban tying) ceremony was held. We are standing at life's critical juncture. During the past one month whatever took place, you have seen that all,” he said in the video.

“A month back, 'excesses' were unleashed by the government against Sikhs. Had it been only the question of (my) arrest, then perhaps there were many ways of arrest and with which, I would have cooperated,” he could be heard saying in the video.  

 “In the court of Almighty, I am not guilty but I could be guilty in the worldly court,” he said.

“After one month, I decided that we fought on this land, we will fight on this land and will never leave this land,” he stated. 

He further said he will face “false cases”, which have been registered against him by police, in the courts.

“On the same place (Rode where he was anointed), I decided to surrender and this arrest is not an end, it is the beginning,” he said. 

In the video, Amritpal Singh is heard saying that the “bunch of lies” created against him will be demolished by the Almighty.

Jasbir Singh Rode, former Jathedar of the Akal Takht, claimed Amritpal surrendered and that he was present when he did so. He told reporters in Moga that Amritpal addressed a gathering and later came out of the gurdwara to surrender.     

Amritpal Singh had been on the run since March 18 when a police crackdown was launched against him and members of his outfit 'Waris Punjab De'. The Punjab Police had invoked the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against the Khalistan sympathiser.

(With Agency Inputs)

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