edited by: Oindrila Mukherjee
Last Update: March 21, 2023, 21:53 IST
In CCTV footage released by police, Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh is seen wearing a shirt and a pair of trousers instead of his flowing white cloak, a pink turban with his standard blue turban. (Image: News18)
Amidst speculation that the police caught him in a raid on or soon after March 18 but were not announcing it, the Punjab government has now told the High Court that Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh is not in their custody .
From brave declarations of fear of arrest to sensational absconding, Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh is nowhere to be found even after three days of police crackdown.
In the CCTV footage released by the police, the hardline leader was last seen in new clothes, a pair of sunglasses and a changed turban to mislead people sitting behind on a motorcycle. He is seen wearing a shirt and a pair of trousers instead of his flowing white robes, with his standard blue turban tipped in pink.
“There is nothing to fear of arrest… I am not even afraid of being arrested or killed. If this was my concern, you know I would not be here where I am now,” Amritpal told News18 last Monday while sitting inside his fort in Punjab’s Jallupur Kheda village.
Amidst speculation that the police caught him in a raid on or soon after March 18 but were not announcing it, the state government has now told the High Court that Amritpal is not in their custody. Now the million dollar question is where is Amritpal Singh?
The events narrated by the police so far suggest that Amritpal has eluded them and the police seem to have made a better plan to escape than arrest him. Separate CCTV footage obtained by the police between 11 a.m. and noon last Saturday shows Amritpal at the Shahkot toll plaza, where his convoy of cars can be seen and Amritpal apparently sitting in the front seat of his Mercedes SUV. are sitting Four other vehicles including a Brezza, Isuzu and Endeavor are also visible in the CCTV footage, in which four vehicles are visible.
More footage showed a police net where two of these vehicles were in the way but Amritpal managed to flee the spot in his Mercedes along with the Brezza. Another CCTV from Nangal Ambien village also shows Amritpal sitting on the back seat of the Brezza, which is the only one visible, indicating that he had quickly changed his car from Mercedes to Brezza.
Amritpal’s uncle Harjit Singh, who was driving the Mercedes at Shahkot toll plaza, surrendered later. According to police, earlier, Harjeet barged into the house of sarpanch Manpreet Singh in Uddowal village near Jalandhar and forced the family to give him shelter for two days at gunpoint.
After this, in the CCTV footage, Amritpal is seen coming out of Breja in a new form in Nangal Ambian village of Jalandhar. Police said he went to the village gurdwara where he changed clothes and had food before fleeing again.
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