New Delhi: Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Saturday asked fugitive Pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh, who has been on the run since March 18, to surrender before the police.
The Jathedar of Akal Takht also questioned the competence of the police and wondered why they haven’t been able to catch the self-styled Sikh preacher despite the size of their force.
"If Amritpal is out (of police net), then I will ask him to present (before police) and cooperate with (police) investigation," said the Jathedar.
In a video message on Saturday, the Jathedar said the biggest question in the mind of every Sikh living across the world is how Amritpal could not be arrested despite a big police force in the state. It raises a question over the functioning of the police, he said.
His remarks come in the wake of the Punjab Police crackdown against radical preacher Amritpal Singh and elements of 'Waris Punjab De', an outfit headed by him.
Police have released images and videos of Amritpal Singh taking multiple vehicles to dodge police.
The police released seven photographs of the separatist, including some in which he is not wearing a turban, in order to elicit public assistance in apprehending him.
The Jathedar said if the preacher has already been arrested, then the police should say so.
The preacher gave the police a slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Jalandhar district. His whereabouts are still unknown.
The Punjab government has slapped the strictest National Security Act against him and some of his associates.
He also asked police to keep in mind that Sikh youths, who have been held in the Amritpal case, have not committed as big crimes as they have been projected to have committed.
Amritpal and his many associates have been booked in several cases by the police.
The Akal Takht Jathedar has also called a special gathering of around 60 to 70 Sikh organisations, seminaries, and Nihang organisations to discuss the situation in Punjab. No representative of political organisations has been invited.
Amritpal Singh rose to prominence in recent months after he and his supporters stormed a police station armed with swords, knives, and guns last month after one of the preacher's aides was arrested for alleged assault and attempted kidnapping.