Joga Singh, known as the main aide of fugitive Amritpal Singh has been arrested by the Punjab police from Sirhind, on Saturday. According to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Border Range Narinder Bhargav, Amritsar-rural and Hoshiarpur police collaborated on the operation to apprehend him. He is a resident of Ludhiana and was in charge of a Dera in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh.
From March 18 to March 28, he was with the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief, and brought the latter back to Punjab on March 27 Punjab, per Satinder Singh, senior superintendent of police (SSP)-rural, Amritsar.
“This is the person who took Amritpal from the time he was reported absconding, beyond Delhi, gave him shelter and then brought him back to Punjab. He wasn’t booked under NSA (National Security Act). He will be produced in the Hoshiarpur court. Joga Singh’s intention was to stay low in some areas of Haryana,” DIG Narinder Bhargav informed during a press conference.
On Friday, three people were taken into custody for harbouring Amritpal Singh. Advocate Rajdeep Singh of Babak village near Tanda in Hoshiarpur, Sarabjit Sabi, a Nihang of Basti Danishmanda in Jalandhar and Onkar Nath, a self-styled preacher of the Tut Kalan village in Jalandhar were arrested and brought before the duty magistrate on Friday night. They were placed on a one-day police remand.
The police announced that they will be presented before the court on Saturday to request additional police remand. As per sources, the three have also been found to have some objectionable materials, and the police are inquiring them about the confiscated items.
On April 10, the Punjab Police arrested two brothers, Hardeep Singh (21) and Kuldip Singh (30) from the Rajpur Bhaian village in Hoshiarpur for reportedly providing the radical Sikh separatist with shelter and food on March 28 while he was being pursued by the police.
Papalpreet Singh, a close associate of wanted Amritpal Singh, was arrested by Punjab Police earlier on the same day. He was apprehended by the Punjab police in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, after being seen casually walking around the Gurdwara Sahib complex and accompanying link roads.
The police launched a major crackdown against Amritpal Singh and members of his ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit last month. He managed to elude the police’s dragnet on March 18 by switching vehicles and changing his appearance. He is on the run since then.