Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh releases video

NEW DELHI: In a new video, Amritpal Singh makes an appeal to not only the members of Waris Punjab De, but all Sikhs in India and outside.

Amritpal Singh has issued a video on Wednesday amid speculations of his surrender at Golden temple on Wednesday in which he slammed the Punjab police and said if the Punjab government had the intention of arresting him police could have come to his house and he would have given in. In his message recorded for the purpose of circulation while he continues to be in hiding, Amritpal Singh called ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ on the occasion of Baisakhi and also spoke about the arrest of his aides and their detention in Assam jail. This is the first-ever video statement the Waris Punjab De chief issued after the Punjab Police launched a massive crackdown on him and his organisation on March 18. In the video, he urges for mob mobilisation and confirms that he is not yet arrested.

This is the first video of the radical Sikh preacher since he has been on the run. Earlier, he was seen in CCTV footage, but the video has been recorded for the purpose of spreading his message to his followers. His location is still unknown though police suspect he will be surrendering on Wednesday – 10 days after the operation started.

In the video, the fugitive radical preacher does not look like he is going to surrender as he said the almighty “saved us from the attempts of lakhs of cops who were sent to make an arrest”. He also said that had the cops come to his house, he would have surrendered. “If the state government had the intention of making an arrest...” he said in the video throwing somewhat a challenge to the government.

Amritpal Singh’s location was said to be in Punjab on Tuesday evening and police launched a massive search operation in Hoshiarpur but Amritpal managed to evade. On Wednesday, there was a huge security in Amritsar amid speculations that Amritpal Singh will surrender at Golden Temple. Some reports claimed Amritpal Singh gave the police a few conditions that he won’t be tortured in jail and he won’t be taken outside Punjab. Reacting to this, the Amritsar police commissioner said no such conditions have been given by him but in general Punjab Police is a professional organisation and there will be due legal process if Amritpal Singh surrenders. (Agencies)