CHANDIGARH: A new video of Amritpal Singh with his key aide Papalpreet Singh surfaced on social media on Tuesday, showing the pro-Khalistan preacher without a turban and wearing a mask.
The undated CCTV footage, said to be from a market in Delhi, showed the fugitive walking down a street wearing dark glasses. Behind him, Papalpreet Singh could be seen walking with a bag.
There is no official word from Punjab Police on the fresh footage.
A senior Delhi Police official said they are probing whether the persons seen in the video are Amritpal Singh and his aide. ” So far we don’t have any such information, nor the location where the video was shot has been confirmed to be of Delhi. However, we are verifying it,” the official said.
The video has emerged a day after a picture of Amritpal Singh and Papalpreet Singh widely circulated on social media. That image showed both these men looking relaxed and Amritpal Singh holding a beverage can.
Papalpreet Singh is said to be Amritpal Singh’s mentor. He was allegedly in contact with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.
Several images and videos of the radical preacher have surfaced on social media since the police crackdown on him and his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’ began on March 18. Amritpal Singh, however, managed to dodge the crackdown in Jalandhar and escaped in different vehicles by changing his appearance multiple times, police said.
They said Amritpal Singh and Papalpreet Singh were allegedly harboured by a woman at her home in Shahabad in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district on March 19.
On March 25, CCTV footage emerged purportedly showing Amritpal Singh talking on a mobile phone.
The police action began about three weeks after Amritpal Singh and his supporters stormed the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested man. Six police personnel were injured.
Punjab Police have arrested or detained a number of his associates under criminal cases related to spreading disharmony, attempt to murder and attack, police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge duty by public servants. They have slapped the stringent National Security Act against some of them.
On Sunday, Punjab Police said they have released 197 people out of 353 taken into preventive custody till then on apprehension of breach of peace and disturbance of law and order. (PTI)
