‘80,000 COPS, HE STILL ESCAPED?’

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday slammed Punjab police and asked them to submit a status report in their operation against Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh. “You have 80,000 cops. What were they doing? How did Amritpal Singh escape?” the HC asked Punjab government. The court remarked that this is an intelligence failure of the state’s police. The court’s remarks come amid the Punjab Police action against the Khalistan leader and members of his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’. Court asked the state govt ‘how is everyone held, except Singh’.

Fugitive pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh used several vehicles and changed his outfits while he was fleeing the police net during the crackdown on Saturday. As the hunt to arrest Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh is underway, Punjab IGP Sukhchain Singh Gill addressed the media and said the Brezza car, in which Amritpal Singh fled, has been recovered by the police. He said Arms Act has been invoked against four people who helped him. “An important fact has come to light that Amritpal Singh, after fleeing, visited the Gurudwara in Nangal Ambian village (in Jalandhar district) and changed his clothes before fleeing again. This came to be known in questioning of the four people who have been nabbed.”

Giving update, he said, “National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against Amritpal Singh. A non-bailable warrant has been issued against him on March 18.” “Police is working as per law. People have suspicions, but the prime accused (Amritpal Singh) has not been arrested yet. As soon as the arrest is made, we will inform you,” he concluded. Earlier on Tuesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court slammed the Punjab police and questioned how Amritpal Singh had given them the slip repeatedly. “You have 80,000 cops. What were they doing. How did Amritpal Singh escape?,” the High Court asked the Punjab government. The court called it an intelligence failure.The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) instructed the chiefs of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) to be vigilant in the international border regions of Punjab, India-Nepal, among others, in an effort to halt Amritpal Singh’s escape. The development took place Punjab Police on March 18 launched a statewide search operation to nab Amritpal Singh and his close aides who attempted to disrupt the law and order situation in the state.