Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, on the run from the Punjab police for a week now, was seen wearing a jacket and trousers while escaping the state’s dragnet during the massive crackdown on his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’.
Usually seen in traditional religious attire, he also sported a pair of dark goggles in the security camera footage accessed by the police. The CCTV footage is from Amritsar, recorded on March 20. Amritpal was said to be hiding at a relative’s house there.
Videos revealed he left for Kurukshetra in Haryana from Amritsar, and was headed for the national capital, sources said. He allegedly disembarked at a bus terminal in the guise of a monk yesterday, they added.
Teams of Delhi and Punjab Police were present at the Inter State Bus Terminal in Delhi’s Kashmere Gate since this morning and have been scanning the CCTV footage.
CCTV cameras last showed him leaving the home of a woman who had sheltered him while he was fleeing from the police. The footage showed the separatist carrying an umbrella to hide his face.
Baljeet Kaur, the woman who sheltered Amritpal Singh and his aide Papalpreet Singh at her house in Haryana’s Kurukshetra, has been arrested, the police said.
Accused of attempted murder, obstruction of law enforcement, and creating disharmony, Amritpal has been on the run since last Saturday when officers tried to block his motorcade and arrest him in a dramatic chase.
Amritpal Singh, chief of ‘Waris Punjab De’, a radical organisation started by actor and activist Deep Sidhu who died in an accident last year, rose to prominence in recent months after he and his supporters, armed with swords, knives and guns, raided a police station last month. They were demanding the release of one of the preacher’s aides, who was arrested for alleged assault and attempted kidnapping.
Several policemen were injured in the brazen daytime raid on the outskirts of Amritsar, heaping pressure on authorities to act.
