Fugitive radical preacher and pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh's close aide Papalpreet Singh was was escorted to the Amritsar airport on Tuesday morning after Punjab Police nabbed him in Amritsar district and detained under the National Security Act, police said.
So far, police have arrested eight close aides of Amritpal Singh who have been shifted to the high-security Dibrugarh Central Jail and all of them have been booked under the NSA.
Addressing the media, Punjab Police Inspector General (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said, “He (Papalpreet) is the main associate of Amritpal Singh. He has been arrested from Kathunangal area in Amritsar."
He said Papalpreet has been detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) and that six other cases have also been registered against him.
Earlier, officials said Papalpreet was arrested in a Punjab Police operation that also involved its counter intelligence wing. They had also said that he was arrested in Hoshiarpur.
Papalpreet is considered to be Amritpal's mentor and has allegedly been in contact with Pakistan's ISI.
Gill said further legal action will be taken against Papalpreet.
The police had been conducting searches at many places, including Hoshiarpur, to nab the duo who had been hoodwinking the securitymen since March 18 when police had launched a crackdown against the Khalistan sympathiser and his aides.
CCTV footage on 'Dera'
Papalpreet's arrest comes days after a CCTV footage made the rounds on social media in which he could be seen at a 'dera' (place for religious congregation) in a village in Hoshiarpur.
The footage is said to be of March 29, a day after a team of the counter intelligence wing chased an Innova car from Phagwara to Hoshiarpur after the police suspected that the fugitive and his aides could be in that vehicle.
The 'dera', seen in the footage, is in village Tanauli which is located just two to three kilometers away from Marnaian village in Hoshiarpur where the police had launched a massive search operation in search of the suspects.
It is believed that both Papalpreet and Amritpal could have separated in Hoshiarpur following the police chase of their vehicle.
Many pictures of the duo had surfaced on social media. In one such footage, both of them could be seen wearing masks while roaming around a street in Delhi.
A picture of them looking relaxed and Amritpal holding a beverage can was also seen.
The Khalistan sympathiser escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances.
He and his associates have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
(With PTI Inputs)
