New Delhi: A CCTV footage has surfaced online purportedly showing Papalpreet Singh, a close aide of radical preacher Amritpal Singh, in a “dera” in a village in Punjab's Hoshiarpur on Saturday, news agency PTI reported.
The footage is said to be of March 29, a day after a team of counter intelligence wing of Punjab Police chased an Innova from Phagwara suspecting Singh and his aide could be travelling in it.
According to police, Papalpreet was spotted in the video clip of Wednesday morning. It is suspected that Papalpreet and Amritpal got separated following the police chase.
The “dera” whose footage has surfaced is in Tanauli, two kilometres from Marnaian village where police had launched their search.
Papalpreet Singh is considered one of the mentors of Amritpal Singh who had been advising him on various issues.
Notably, police on Friday stepped up their search for Amritpal Singh in Hoshiarpur district. Police had even deployed a drone to trace the suspects.
Amritpal has been absconding since a police crackdown on his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’ on March 18. He, however, appeared in two purported videos and an audio clip released on social media.
In the video, Singh asserted he was not a fugitive and would soon make a public appearance.
In the audio clip, he denied that he was negotiating his surrender and nudged the Akal Takht “sarbat khalsa” congregation to discuss issues related to the Sikh community.
Notably, Punjab Police have been on a high alert since Amritpal Singh escaped their net in Jalandhar on March 18.
The crackdown on the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief was launched three weeks after his supporters stormed a police station in Ajnala to secure release of an arrested man.
Amritpal and his associates have been booked in several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.