India
‘Will soon appear before world’: Amritpal Singh releases new video
A day after daring the Punjab police to arrest him, Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh surfaced in a fresh video on Thursday, asserting he was not a fugitive and would soon appear before the world.
This was his second video since being on the run amid a police crackdown on his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’.
A day earlier, Singh in a video appeared on social media asking the jathedar (or chief) of the highest temporal body of Sikhs to summon a congregation of the faithful to discuss issues concerning the community, according to PTI report.
The purported video surfaced hours after his audio clip came out on social media in which he debunked speculation he was negotiating his surrender.
“Those who feel that I have turned fugitive and I have left my associates, they should not keep this illusion in their mind. I do not fear death,” he said in the video in Punjabi.
“And soon will appear before the world and will also be amongst the ‘Sangat’,” Amritpal Singh said.
Police have stepped up security in and around Amritsar and Bathinda amid reports that Singh may surrender after entering any of the two Sikh shrines – Golden Temple in Amritsar and Takht Sri Damdama Sahib in Bathinda.
“One has to face a lot during the days of rebellion. These days of rebellion are difficult to pass,” Singh said in the video
“I want to tell the government that I did not fear them before and I don’t fear them now. Whatever they have to do they may do… I cannot even think of becoming a fugitive,” Amritpal Singh said, adding that he was not afraid of getting arrested.
He appealed to the people not to get swayed by propaganda.
Take out a ‘Khalsa Vaheer’ (religious procession) from the Akal Takht in Amritsar to Damdama Sahib in Bathinda and hold a ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ there on Baisakhi, he said.
On Thursday, a drone was deployed over the village in Hoshiarpur where some suspects abandoned their car two days back after a police chase. There was speculation that Amritpal Singh could have been in that vehicle, the new agency reported.
The preacher remains untraceable since March 18, when he gave the slip to a police dragnet in Jalandhar, switching cars and changing appearances.
The trigger for the crackdown was the storming of the Ajnala police station last month by him and his supporters, some of them brandishing firearms to secure the release of an arrested man. Six police personnel were injured.
