Earlier in the day, some of Amritpal’s associates were detained in Mahatpur, while others, including the self-styled Sikh preacher, managed to escape in their vehicle. The chase was streamed live from his vehicle.
A senior official of the state home affairs department said internet services have been suspended across the state till noon on Sunday.
The 30-year-old shot to prominence in the last 6-7 months as a separatist leader, Khalistani sympathizer and fundamentalist preacher.
Here’s Everything You Need to Know About amritpal Lion:
- He was born in 1993 in Jallupur Kheda village of Amritsar.
- Amritpal studied till class 12 and left India in 2012 to work in his uncle’s transport company in Dubai.
- He came to the attention of Punjab’s politicians and police only six months ago when he was appointed chief of Waris Punjab De, an organization founded by actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu.
- Amritpal and his supporters claim that Sidhu, who died in a road accident in February 2022, was murdered by the ‘state’.
- Amritpal has never met Sidhu in person, but says he was impressed by him in their online conversations.
- Amritpal had supported Deep Sidhu when others condemned him for protesting against the Red Fort on Republic Day 2021 during the farmers’ agitation.
- A week ago on Sidhu’s first death anniversary, Amritpal said that he had stopped trimming his hair in November 2021 on the advice of the late actor.
- On September 25 last year, Amritpal underwent a formal Sikh baptism at Anandpur Sahib to become an ‘Amritdhari Sikh’.
- Exactly four days later – on 29 September – a large number of Sikhs gathered again in Rode village, the birthplace of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, to witness Amritpal’s ‘dastar bandi’ (the ceremony of tying a turban to signify taking on a responsibility). Whose name is Punjab inseparable from extremism.
- Amritpal’s transformation from a clean shaven transporter in Dubai to a long-bearded separatist Sikh leader has been rapid. He dresses like Bhindranwale and some are already calling him Bhindranwale 2.0.
- In a recent speech, he said that when he landed at Amritsar airport, he was interrogated for a long time by ‘agencies’. He said that a Sikh youth being questioned about returning to his homeland was a sign of ‘ghulami’ (slavery).
- He has been supporting Khalistan on Facebook for a long time. He asked why it was wrong for a Sikh to demand Khalistan, if he was not punished for advocating a Hindu nation.
- In an interview to a Punjabi news channel, Amritpal said that he was drawn to Sikh activism after the 2015 Bargari sacrilege and Behbal Kalan police firing.
- Both incidents took place under the supervision of the Shiromani Akali Dal, a political organization of the Sikhs. The party had suffered a crushing defeat in the assembly elections held last year. It looks like Amritpal is hoping to fill the HTE Power vacuum.
- Similar circumstances enabled the rise of Bhindranwale in the 1970s.
- Amritpal dresses up and introduces himself as Bhindranwale. This includes wearing the turban and turban worn by Bhindranwale.
- As per police records, Amritpal Singh is married to UK-based NRI Kirandeep Kaur.
- Amritpal Singh has three cases registered against him, out of which two are related to hate speech and one is related to kidnapping.
history of violence
On December 9, 2022 – just a few months after Waris was appointed as the chief of Punjab Dey – Amritpal’s supporters ransacked a gurdwara in Biharipura and then later on December 13 vandalized a gurdwara in Jalandhar.
Punjab: Police arrests 6 associates of pro-Khalistan Amritpal Singh, internet services suspended
They burnt chairs and sofas in these two gurdwaras claiming that one should not pray sitting at the level of the Guru Granth Sahib in the gurdwara.
In February 2023, a person complained to the Ajnala police station that he was abducted and beaten up by associates of Amritpal Singh. An FIR was lodged against Amritpal Singh and his six accomplices. The police have arrested one of his close friends, Lovepreet Singh Toofan.
After his arrest, Amritpal Singh issued an “ultimatum” to the Punjab Police to drop the case and when the police did not respond, his supporters broke police barricades and stormed the police premises, armed with automatic guns and sharp weapons. But attacked.
Several police personnel suffered injuries and police vehicles were damaged.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police Satinder Singh, the police could not retaliate because Amritpal Singh’s supporters had styled their group like a jatha carrying the Guru Granth Sahib.
The Punjab Police later ordered the release of Lovepreet Singh by the court on the basis of the police report.
Amritpal also threatened Union Home Minister Amit Shah that he would meet the same fate as Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.
(with inputs from agencies)