CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police on Saturday appealed to people not to believe rumours and fake news of the arrest of radical preacher and pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh, which is being circulated on social media. Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, Bathinda SSP Gulneet Khurana said, “We urge people not to believe the fake reports of the arrest of Amritpal Singh that are being widely circulated on social media.” He blamed the fake reports on “rumour mongers” based in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada.
“A few people sitting in the UK, US, and Canada are spreading false news on social media that Amritpal is being tortured (in custody),” the SSP added.
He added, “BSF companies along with police personnel and 140 security personnel from Bahadurgarh are currently deployed in Bathinda to ensure peace.”
An alert was sounded in Uttarakhand over the possibility of the absconding pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh entering the state, informed Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) V Murugesan on Saturday morning.
Murugesan added that he had received inputs from the Punjab Police that the pro-Khalistan leader, who fled Punjab in the wake of the crackdown on Waris Punjab De, may enter Uttarakhand from Haryana.
He told ANI that checks and searches are underway and a security alert has gone out in places through which he can enter the state.
The officer added that the district police have also been alerted and vigilance stepped up at the borders.
On Friday, an alert was issued in the Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand, amid reports of Amritpal trying to enter the state.
A team of Delhi Police and Punjab Police on Friday launched a search operation for Amritpal in Delhi and its border in view of the possibility of him entering the national capital. However, Delhi Police later said Waris Punjab De chief may left the national capital.
On March 18, Punjab Police launched an operation against Amritpal and his aides. The crackdown came almost over three weeks after Amritpal’s supporters clashed with uniformed personnel at the Ajnala police station on February 23, on the outskirts of Amritsar, demanding the release of one of his close aides, Lovepreet Toofan. (ANI)
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