In the latest development in the manhunt for radical preacher Amritpal Singh and his aide, the Punjab Police launched a massive door-to-door search operation in a Hoshiarpur village after a tip was received about them being in the area.
There was heavy police deployment in and around the Marnaian village here as police began the operation late on Tuesday night after some suspects abandoned their vehicle following a chase. A team of the counterintelligence wing of the Punjab Police Tuesday evening had chased a car from Phagwara after it suspected that fugitive Amritpal and his aide could be in that vehicle, police sources said.
Suspects, who are believed to be three to four, abandoned their vehicle near Gurdwara Bhai Chanchal Singh in Marnaian village here and fled, police sources said. A cordon and search operation was launched on Tuesday night in and around the village while checkposts and barricades were raised on the roads to nab the suspects. Police late on Tuesday night had also conducted a door-to-door search operation to nab the suspects. The Punjab Police has been on high alert after the pro-Khalistan radical preacher escaped its dragnet.
Amritpal Singh remains untraceable since a police crackdown against him and members of his pro-Khalistan 'Waris Punjab De' outfit on March 18, about three weeks after he and his supporters stormed into the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested man. The preacher escaped the police dragnet in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances. He and his associates have been booked under 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.
A new video of Amritpal Singh with his key aide Papalpreet Singh surfaced on social media on Tuesday, showing the pro-Khalistan preacher without a turban and wearing a mask. The undated CCTV footage, said to be from a market in Delhi, showed the fugitive walking down a street wearing dark glasses. Behind him, Papalpreet Singh could be seen walking with a bag. There is no official word from Punjab Police on the fresh footage. A senior Delhi Police official said they are probing whether the persons seen in the video are Amritpal Singh and his aide.
(With inputs from PTI)
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