Khalistan ideologue and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh is still absconding while 114 people have so far been arrested in connection with the March 18 crackdown, Punjab Police Inspector General Sukhchain Singh Gill said in Chandigarh on Monday, March 20. In a major development, the National Security Act (NSA) has been imposed on four aides of Amritpal Singh. Amritpal Singh's uncle Harjit Singh, who was arrested early Monday, is also likely to be booked under the stringent law.
While the four aides of Amritpal Singh -- Daljeet Singh Kalsi, Bhagwant Singh, Gurmeet Singh, and ‘Pradhanmantri’ Bajeka -- have been kept in Assam's Dibrugarh jail, his uncle is also being taken there. Addressing the media, Gill clarified that Amritpal Singh continued to be absconding and a manhunt was underway to arrest him at the earliest. Amritpal was declared a fugitive by the police after he escaped during a dramatic car chase in Jalandhar district on Saturday.
Amritpal Singh was born in Amritsar’s Jallupur Khera village in 1993. He moved to Dubai in 2012 to join his family's transport business after studying in India till Class 12. His sudden rise was precipitated six months ago when he was appointed head of Waris Punjab De, an organisation founded by actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu. Amritpal says he never met Deep but was profoundly influenced by him during their online interactions. Amritpal had supported Deep when others blamed him for the Red Fort protests on Republic Day in 2021 during the farmers’ agitation. On Deep’s first death anniversary recently, Amritpal said he had stopped trimming his hair on the late actor’s advice in November 2021.
Amritpal underwent a formal Sikh baptism at Anandapur Sahib to become an ‘Amritdhari Sikh’ on September 25 last year. Four days later on September 29, a large number of Sikhs assembled to witness Amritpal’s ‘bastar bandi’ (turban-tying ceremony to indicate responsibility being handed over) at Rode village, the birthplace of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Jarnail Singh had led the pro-Khalistan movement in the 1980s and was killed during the Indian Army’s Operation Bluestar in 1984.
Considering Bhindranwale as his role model, Amritpal echoes his hardline views and has openly called for a separate state for Sikhs, claiming it to be the only permanent solution’ to Punjab's problems, including water disputes and drug addiction.
Once a clean-shaven transporter in Dubai, Amritpal’s Singh transformation to a separatist Sikh leader with a flowing beard has been rapid and some are already referring to him as Bhindranwale 2.0.
In November 2022, Amritpal led a month-long religious procession across the state to encourage Sikhs to become baptised, abstain from drug consumption and give up customs such as dowry and caste-based discrimination.
A few months after he was appointed as chief of Waris Punjab De, Amritpal’s supporters vandalised a gurudwara in Biharipura on December 9, 2022 and then later on December 13, vandalised a gurudwara in Jalandhar. They set fire to chairs at these two gurdwaras claiming that one must not pray while being seated at the level of the Guru Granth Sahib at the gurudwara.
In February 2023, based on the complaint of an individual at Ajnala police station that he was kidnapped and assaulted by associates of Amritpal Singh, an FIR was registered against Amritpal and six of his associates. The police also arrested one of his close associates, Lovepreet Singh Toofan.
Following the arrest, Amritpal Singh issued an ‘ultimatum’ to Punjab Police to withdraw the case. However, when the police did not act on the ultimatum, his supporters who were armed with automatic guns and sharp weapons broke through police barricades and attacked the police complex. Several police personnel were reportedly injured and police vehicles damaged.
Senior Superintendent of Police Satinder Singh said the police could not retaliate since the supporters of Amritpal Singh had grouped themselves in the form of a Jatha, and were carrying the Guru Granth Sahib. Police later released Lovepreet following a court order.