Who is Amritpal Singh, the man wanted by Punjab police?
Thousands of policemen in India's Punjab have been looking for Amritpal Singh since Saturday. More than 100 were arrested till yesterday, but Singh's whereabouts are still unknown.
So, who is this Amritpal Singh who suddenly rose to fame just a few months ago and already sparked a political crisis in the north Indian state?
Singh's rise to fame
The 30-year-old controversial leader shot into prominence as a self-styled radical preacher, Khalistan sympathiser and, separatist leader.
Singh came to the notice of Punjab's politicians and police only six months ago when he became the head of Waris Punjab De, an organisation founded by actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu, reports the Times of India.
Saturday's state-wide dramatic manhunt to arrest Singh after Punjab Police declared him "a fugitive," has made him even more famous.
The police crackdown came weeks after Singh's supporters stormed a police station, demanding the release of an aide who had been arrested.
Origin story
Singh was born in Amritsar Jallupur Khera village in 1993. He studied up to class 12 in India and went to Dubai in 2012 to work with his uncle's transport company there, Times of India adds.
Punjabi actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu, who was arrested over the farmers' protest at Red Fort on January 26, 2021, founded Waris Punjab De after he was granted bail.
The stated objective of the outfit was to fight for the "rights of Punjab". After Deep Sidhu's death in an accident last year, Amritpal Singh positioned himself as Waris Punjab De's leader, reports NDTV.
However, according to Deep Sidhu's brother Mandeep, Amritpal's Waris Punjab De is completely different from their outfit with the same name.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Mandeep alleged that the Khalistani preacher is "misusing" his brother's name. "Deep had clearly said that talks are the (only) way but Amritpal is clearly asking youths to pick up weapon," he said.
Why is Amritpal Singh wanted?
A huge mob of his supporters attacked a police station on the outskirts of Amritsar this February.
Brandishing swords and using the Sikh holy book as shields, they barged in and extracted an assurance from police that his key aide, a kidnapping case accused Lovepreet Singh, would be released, NDTV reports.
The incident hit headlines and provided Amritpal a platform from where he made statements calling for an armed rebellion against democratically elected governments for "ultimate goal" of 'Khalistan'.
Allegations against Amritpal Singh
The latest case against Amritpal Singh has been registered under the Arms Act after a huge cache of weapons was recovered from his aides.
According to official sources, he has been maintaining close links with Pakistani intelligence agency ISI and some terrorist groups based abroad, NDTV reports quoting PTI.
The Khalistani leader is believed to be close to of UK-based Khalistani terrorist Avtar Singh Khanda.
Singh was allegedly building a "private militia" of youth from drug-deaddiction centres, to be used for violent protests. The deaddiction centres were allegedly also used to stockpile illegally-sourced weapons from Pakistan.
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