Intercepted, Amritpal Singh’s aide Papalpreet hid at Tanuli dera 2 km away

Jalandhar, April 1

In another major embarassment for the Punjab Police, it has been learnt that Papalpreet Singh, key aide of pro-Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh, hid for nearly 10 hours at a place just 2 km away from the spot where they had been intercepted on March 28 evening. Both have been on the run for the past 15 days.

While a massive search was carried out to nab the duo in and around Marnaian village in Hoshiarpur, he was quietly hiding at a dera in Tanuli village, hardly 2 km away. Police and paramilitary forces remained deployed in large numbers at the spot for over three days, but failed to spot Papalpreet Singh.

A senior officer tracking the case said Papalpreet Singh hid near a tubewell, about 4-5 km away, at night and came to the dera at the village in the morning.

Dera people did not suspect him to be the fugitive and took no note of his movement there, the officer said.

Sources said Amritpal Singh and his accomplice, Charanjit Singh, fled from the spot in a Swift car (bearing number 8196), but the police had not been able to trace it so far.

Charanjit Singh later moved on a different route and was caught. He told the police that another accused, Joga Singh, had bought a new SIM from a mobile shop in Sahnewal, from where the police later got his closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage released yesterday.

Meanwhile, the police have checked the CCTV footage of deras in Hoshiarpur, including those at Harkhowal, Dhakkowal, Pandori Bibi, Attowal, Kahri-Sahri, Mona Kalan, Mona Khurd, Bhungarni, Phuglana, Mukhliana, Moranwali and Nadalon to get further leads.

Embarrassment for police

• While a search was carried out to nab Amritpal & Papalpreet at Marnaian village in Hoshiarpur, he hid at a dera in Tanuli village, hardly 2 km away
• The police remained deployedat the spot for over three days, but failed to spot Papalpreet