Fugitive pro-Khalistani leader and "Waris Punjab De" chief Amritpal Singh and his mentor Papalpreet Singh, who dodged the Punjab Police in a village near Hoshiarpur town had reached Phagwara on Tuesday evening in a Getaway Scorpio vehicle which bore Uttarakhand number.
According to the sources close to ABP News, those who provided shelter to Amritpal and his aide had also provided them with an Innova car.
Amritpal left the vehicle in Phagwara and went to Punjab’s Marnaian Khurd Village in the Innova car. The police tried chasing the two but after getting down from the Innova car both of them took the advantage of the darkness, jumped over the wall, and eloped in the fields. The police are yet to nab Amritpal.
An Innova vehicle, with three people onboard, comprising Amritpal, was stopped by the police on Tuesday night at a checkpoint but they managed to flee in the dark, an official familiar with the development told IANS. The Police had cordoned off villages in the Hoshiarpur district and are carrying out door-to-door search operations.
The police, which were on high alert, had inputs about Amritpal's movements in Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar districts. The Police suspected Amritpal Singh was seen on a Delhi street in a new CCTV footage. He appeared to have a distinct look, since his hair hangs loose with no turban, and the Khalistani leader was seen wearing a mask in the video.
The CCTV footage was taken on March 21, three days after the Punjab Police launched a big crackdown on Amritpal Singh and his 'Waris Punjab De' outfit. Amritpal Singh is still missing, and the Indian government has already requested that the Nepal government not allow him to flee to another country.
Amritpal Singh and Papalpreet Singh, according to media reports, arrived in Delhi via Kurukshetra, Haryana. The police had not stated whether he is still hiding in Delhi or whether he has fled the city. A day earlier, the state's Advocate General informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the police were close to arresting Amritpal Singh.
The high court was hearing a petition seeking his release, by a man who claimed that Amritpal Singh was in "illegal" custody in Jalandhar. The Advocate General clarified that Amritpal Singh was not arrested and the police were trying their best to arrest him.
"Punjab is passing through a sensitive stage and national security is involved. As such, the arguments addressed should be limited to the contentions raised in the habeas corpus petition," he said. After hearing counsel, Justice N.S. Shekhawat asked the petitioner's counsel to show evidence that Amritpal Singh was in illegal custody of the police. He said the state's categorical stand was that Amritpal Singh had not been arrested. Amritpal Singh has been evading arrest, changing his location and looks multiple times, since March 18 when the police launched a massive crackdown to arrest him.