Ajnala incident, Punjab police crackdown: A sequence of events that led to Amritpal Singh’s arrest

Produced by: Mehak Agarwal
Designed by: Pragati

Amritpal Singh was arrested on April 23 from the Rode village in Punjab’s Moga and flown to a high-security jail in Dibrugarh on April 23. But what are the events that led to the radical preacher’s arrest? 

Dibrugarh jail is Amritpal
Singh’s new address

Amritpal Singh was appointed the chief of Waris Punjab De, a Khalistani outfit founded by late actor-activist Deep Sidhu at a turban-tying ceremony in Moga’s Rode village in September last year

Appointed Waris
Punjab De chief

Amritpal and his supporters stormed into the Ajnala police station and demanded the release of Lovepreet Singh on February 23. Some of his followers were brandishing swords and guns. A day later, Lovepreet Singh is released from judicial custody.

Ajnala clashes;
Lovepreet Singh released

Punjab Police launches a massive crackdown against Amritpal and his aides on March 18. His cavalcade gets intercepted in Jalandhar but he switches vehicles and evades arrest. 

Punjab police crackdown

Punjab IGP Sukhchain Singh Gill said Amritpal fled to a gurudwara in Mangal Ambian village in a Brezza car, changed his outfit and escaped on bikes with three other people.

Ditching Brezza for bike

Amritpal Singh’s aides, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Gurinder Pal, uncle Harjit Singh, Daljeet Kalsi, Basant Singh, Bhagwant Singh, and Gurmeet Singh Bhukhanwala were brought to Dibrugarh Jail in Assam. 

Amritpal’s aides jailed

Pictures of the Khalistani leader along with his close aide Pappalpreet Singh sitting on a motor cart emerge on social media among many of his other pictures. Soon after this, the woman Baljit Kaur, who harboured them at her house in Haryana's Kurukshetra, was also arrested

Amritpal Singh in hiding

Amritpal’s aide Pappalpreet Singh was arrested from Amritsar’s Kathunagal area and taken to Assam on April 10. Pappalpreet was allegedly in contact with Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI.

Pappalpreet Singh arrested

On April 20, Amritpal Singh’s wife Kirandeep Kaur was caught at the Sri Guru Ram Dass International Airport in Amritsar. Kirandeep Kaur was stopped from boarding a flight to London. A few days later, Amritpal surrendered.

Amritpal’s wife caught
at Amritsar airport