Five days on, Amritpal Singh still at large

Tribune News Service

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, March 22

Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh has evaded the arrest for five days now even as state and central security agencies are trying to trace his whereabouts.

The Punjab Police are facing embarrassing questions on how Amritpal escaped despite several SSPs were hot on his trail on Saturday. Some officers came inches close to Amritpal with one SSP rank officer banging his car into Amritpal’s car in a desperate attempt to catch him.

Multi-tier security in Dibrugarh jail

• Multi-tier security arrangements have been made at Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam, where seven associates of Amritpal are lodged
• A team of the elite Black Panther Assam police commandos has been entrusted with securing the outer perimeter of the jail
• The CRPF, Assam Police personnel and prison guards have taken up the responsibility of inner security
• The entire outer boundary of the jail has been fitted with CCTVs cameras to maintain surveillance

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has questioned the government on how Amritpal escaped despite such heavy presence of the police?

Regarding the investigation about his funding and training abroad and how he assumed leadership of the Khalistani movement, the police have not announced the specific details and the role played by his associates.

Sources in the police and central security agencies say they are convinced that actor-turned activist Daljit Kalsi along with Avtar Singh Khanda, Guri Aujla and Baghel Singh were the brain and money power behind planting Amritpal on the Punjab scene. Of these, Kalsi and Guri were booked under the National Security Act (NSA) and sent to the Dirbugarh jail. Baghel Singh and Khanda are in foreign countries.

It has come to the notice of the police that Kalsi was once the right-hand man of the late actor and farm activist Deep Sidhu. He was seen with Sidhu during the farm agitation. However, Kalsi aligned towards radicals and after the death of Sidhu in a mysterious road accident, he toured Canada and other countries and collected funds in support of the Khalistani movement.

He also reportedly met Amritpal and was involved in the planning to bring him to Punjab. London-based Khanda, who disrespected the Tricolour two days ago, was the main handler of Amritpal. Intelligence agencies claim that he had groomed Amritpal with the help of Pakistan’s ISI.

The police are studying the phone call details and financial transactions of Kalsi. There have been reports about the transaction of crores of rupees through Kalsi.

Kalsi, Khanda main handlers

The police are convinced that actor-turned activist Daljit Kalsi, along with Avtar Singh Khanda, Guri Aujla and Baghel Singh, is the brain and money power behind planting Amritpal on the Punjab scene. Of these, Kalsi and Guri were booked under the National Security Act (NSA) and sent to the Dirbugarh jail. Baghel Singh and Khanda are in foreign countries

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