'Best efforts' by police fail to get him, Khalistani preacher surfaces in video

The Punjab Police stepped up security in and around Amritsar and Bathinda Wednesday amid reports that Amritpal Singh may surrender even as the radical preacher surfaced in a video, almost daring them to arrest him if they can.

“I did not fear arrest earlier, nor do I now,” he said in the undated clip, in which he also urged the supreme Sikh body, the Akal Takht, to summon a “sarbat khalsa” – a congregation of the faithful to discuss the issues concerning the community.

The pro-Khalistan preacher suggested that the police were not looking just to arrest him on March 18, when they began the crackdown against his Waris Punjab De outfit.

“If the government’s intention was only to arrest me, the government would have come to my house and arrested me; I would have given up,” he said in Punjabi.

Instead, the state deployed “lakhs” of policemen and laid cordons, he said referring to his escape from the security dragnet in Jalandhar district. The Almighty saved him from that, he said.

In an indirect admission that there might have been a lapse that allowed the preacher to escape that night, the Punjab government on Wednesday shifted out six officers from Jalandhar district – including Jalandhar (Rural) senior superintendent of police.

But officially the reshuffle was not linked to the operation against Amritpal Singh. Three officers from other districts were also transferred.

In the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Punjab government submitted an affidavit that said police were unable to arrest the preacher despite their best efforts.

''Multiple teams headed by senior police officers, including senior superintendent of police, have raided various suspected hideouts of Amritpal Singh. But despite best efforts on the part of police, he could not be arrested/detained so far,” the affidavit submitted in the court of Justice N S Shekhawat said.

The judge is hearing a habeas corpus petition, claiming that the preacher is already in police custody and should be produced in court.

As security around Amritsar and Bathinda was increased, police wound up a major search operation in Hoshiarpur’s Marnajan village and adjoining areas. But their presence continued on Wednesday night in an “area domination” operation.

The Hoshiarpur action began as police chased a car, which some sources said may have carried Amritpal Singh and his aides, on Tuesday night. They abandoned the vehicle at the village and disappeared.

Police in Amritsar said they had no information about reports that the preacher might surrender.

“As you say there are rumours, we have also come to know of such rumours,” Amritsar Police Commissioner Naunihal Singh told reporters.

Like him, Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khurana also refused to link the increased security deployment – particularly in Talwandi Sabo – to the hunt for Amritpal Singh.

Khurana said it was to check “mischievous elements”.

A 'hue and cry' notice seeking information on the whereabouts of Amritpal Singh has been issued in all Punjab districts.

It says he is wanted by the Amritsar (Rural) police and identifies him as a resident of Jallupur Khera in the district. It gives his age as 30 years and says he is around six feet tall.

In the purported video, the fugitive said he is appearing before the community the first time since March 18.

He said he is in “chardi kalan” – an expression that roughly translates to “high spirits” -- and says nobody was able to harm a single hair on his head.

There was no official word on the video, in which the preacher is seen wearing a black turban and a shawl.

He slammed the government over the arrest of Sikh youths during the crackdown, and urged the Akal Takht jathedar to summon a “sarbat khalsa”on Baisakhi.

He said the current issue is not his arrest. “It is a matter of an attack on the Sikh community. I did not fear arrest earlier, nor do I now,” he said.