JALANDHAR/JALLUPUR KHERA: Khalistan sympathizers flee Amritpal Singh take it Punjab Police in a wild goose chase through the state’s countryside for the fifth day, leaving fragmentary traces of his escape and his robberies. CCTV camera footage, including one of him and an associate riding on a “jugaad rehri” – or impromptu freighter – with a suspected getaway bike in the middle.
Police on Wednesday arrested Gurbhej Singh, one of four who departed from a gurdwara in Jalandhar’s Nangal amphibians with Amritpal on two motorbikes, and traced the 45-kilometer stretch they had traveled before the trail turned cold again. One of the bicycles, the Bajaj Platina, was found near the village of Darapur.
Amritpal appears to have fled with Papalpreet Singh, the aide seen with him in the CCTV footage, on a Bajaj Platina bicycle. Three others — Gurbhej, Bikram Singh and Shutrana — were driving the Royal Enfield. Investigators say Enfield was scrapped for Hero Splendor somewhere along the route.
Amritpal and his associates crossed Parjian, Mehatpur and Nurmahal in a 45-kilometer journey that was captured by CCTV along that route. Investigators said while Amritpal and Papalpreet separated from the other three after one boarded a bus in Nurmahal.
Late Tuesday, a new case was registered against Amritpal and four associates he escaped with for criminal threats, extortion and threats with a weapon, based on a statement by Granthi Ranjit. Singh of Nangal Ambian gurdwara. According to the FIR, at around 13:15 on March 18, a Maruti Brezza arrived outside gurdwara and Amritpal and his 4 associates entered Ranjit’s residence on the gurdwara campus.
“My son was working there and one of them said they needed his clothes because the police were chasing them and they needed to change their clothes to escape. I refused to give them clothes, at which point Amritpal held a pistol close to my ear and threatened to kill my whole family,” FIR quoted Granthi as saying. “I opened the almirah afterwards and they took my son’s clothes. When they left, they again threatened me not to give any information to the police.”
Police registered the FIR against four other people who helped Amritpal and his associates escape on two motorbikes. They were taken to court in Shahkot and detained by police for five days. Police recovered the Brezza from a warehouse adjacent to the home of one of the arrested men who was in a wheelchair.
Police on Wednesday arrested Gurbhej Singh, one of four who departed from a gurdwara in Jalandhar’s Nangal amphibians with Amritpal on two motorbikes, and traced the 45-kilometer stretch they had traveled before the trail turned cold again. One of the bicycles, the Bajaj Platina, was found near the village of Darapur.
Amritpal appears to have fled with Papalpreet Singh, the aide seen with him in the CCTV footage, on a Bajaj Platina bicycle. Three others — Gurbhej, Bikram Singh and Shutrana — were driving the Royal Enfield. Investigators say Enfield was scrapped for Hero Splendor somewhere along the route.
Amritpal and his associates crossed Parjian, Mehatpur and Nurmahal in a 45-kilometer journey that was captured by CCTV along that route. Investigators said while Amritpal and Papalpreet separated from the other three after one boarded a bus in Nurmahal.
Late Tuesday, a new case was registered against Amritpal and four associates he escaped with for criminal threats, extortion and threats with a weapon, based on a statement by Granthi Ranjit. Singh of Nangal Ambian gurdwara. According to the FIR, at around 13:15 on March 18, a Maruti Brezza arrived outside gurdwara and Amritpal and his 4 associates entered Ranjit’s residence on the gurdwara campus.
“My son was working there and one of them said they needed his clothes because the police were chasing them and they needed to change their clothes to escape. I refused to give them clothes, at which point Amritpal held a pistol close to my ear and threatened to kill my whole family,” FIR quoted Granthi as saying. “I opened the almirah afterwards and they took my son’s clothes. When they left, they again threatened me not to give any information to the police.”
Police registered the FIR against four other people who helped Amritpal and his associates escape on two motorbikes. They were taken to court in Shahkot and detained by police for five days. Police recovered the Brezza from a warehouse adjacent to the home of one of the arrested men who was in a wheelchair.
