Waris Punjab De Chief and 'Pro Khalistan' leader Amritpal Singh on Saturday escaped arrest by Jalandhar Rural Police in a big crackdown on 'anti-national activities'. Amritpal Singh's pursuit of arrest comes days after he and his supporters stormed inside Ajnala Police station and made a violent clash against the Police. As per reports, 100 Punjab Police cars were chasing Amritpal Singh down (while writing). Before Punjab Police's attempt to arrest Amritpal Singh, internet services were scrapped in Punjab in order to restrict rumours spreading. Notably, 6 of Amritpal's associates were arrested earlier. Punjab police detained 6 close aids of Waris Punjab De Chief Amritpal Singh while he was on his way to Shahkot. Earlier also, the government cancelled arms licenses of 9 associates of Amritpal Singh. All these steps are being taken against Waris Punjab De Chief after the Ajnala Police Station clash. The police departments of eight districts of Punjab carried out a joint operation to nab the pro-Khalistani radical leader and his supporters. The officials stopped the convoy of the Waris Punjab De chief when he was travelling from Jalandhar to Moga and arrested six of his close associates. While Amritpal Singh managed to flee the site.
Why Amritpal Singh is facing legal trouble?
A few days back Waris Punjab De Chief Amritpal Singh’s close aid Lovepreet Singh Toofan was arrested by Ajnala Police for kidnapping and assaulting a person. This led to the announcement of a peaceful protest by Amritpal Singh outside the concerned police station. However, the protest did not remain peaceful and turned into a violent clash where policemen were attacked with swords and stones. After this Toofan was released from jail as no evidence was found against him.
The mob led by Amritpal Singh, who is a preacher and head of the 'Waris Panjab De' group, outnumbered heavily deployed police in Punjab's Ajnala by attacking them with swords, lathis and pelting stones at them, leaving several cops seriously injured with bleeding wounds. Not only this, they broke all the barricades laid to stop them and went on to capture the Ajnala Police Station, eventually making the police bow down to them and forcing them to strike a deal. As a result, the Punjab Police nodded to release Amritpal Singh's aide.
On February 23, at around 1.45 pm, the crowd with swords and sticks began approaching and suddenly turned violent. They broke all the layers of barricades put on to block the roads with their vehicles and marched towards the Ajnala police station. Another layer of barricade was laid ahead of Ajnala police station, where the crowd allegedly became violent and started attacking the police deployed there with swords, sticks and also pelted stones at them. They broke the layer of barricades and went on to capture the police station.
During the attack, which went on to around 6 hours, several policemen received serious injuries, who were taken to hospitals. During the rampage the Punjab Police looked helpless and appeared to be at back foot. Following the hours of standoff and conquest at the police station, the Punjab Police were forced to strike a deal with Amritpal Singh and agreed to release his aide Lovepreet Toofan on February 24.
No official has confirmed Waris Punjab De chief’s arrest yet.