Fugitive Amritpal's aide Pappalpreet Singh arrested from Punjab's Hoshiarpur

Radical preacher Amritpal Singh's close aide Pappalpreet Singh has been arrested from Punjab's Hoshiarpur, police said on Monday. Pappalpreet was arrested in a Punjab Police operation that also involved its counter-intelligence wing, they said. Pappalpreet is considered to be his mentor and has allegedly been in contact with Pakistan's ISI.

Hoshiarpur (Punjab):Tightening noose on fugitive Amritpal Singh, Punjab police on Monday arrested his close aide Pappalpreet Singh. Sources within the police department revealed that Pappalpreet was apprehended by the counter-intelligence unit of the Punjab police in Hoshiarpur.

The joint operation of the Punjab Police and the special cell of the Delhi police led to the arrest of Pappalpreet Singh, who is believed to be the brain behind Amritpal Singh's radical activities. Currently, he is in the custody of Amritsar Rural Police. According to the police, both Amritpal and Pappalpreet had managed to escape from a police dragnet in Jalandhar and had taken different routes after reaching Hoshiarpur.

Pappalpreet Singh who is allegedly in contact with Pakistan’s ISI is also wanted in the February 23 Ajnala violence case. Born in a family of farmers, Pappalpreet completed his PG diploma after studying in a convent school. In his early 20s, he became an activist and joined the Sikh Youth Front, where he became the driving force behind the organization. He was also associated with the Sikh Youth Federation Bhindrawala, which agitated for the release of Sikh prisoners who had been in jail since the early 1990s.

In 2015, Pappalpreet gained prominence when he read out jailed militant Narain Singh Chaura's 'chargesheet' against the then Parkash Singh Badal government at the Sarbat Khalsa. The Sarbat Khalsa was organized to express anger at the sacrilege cases earlier that year and the killing of two Sikh youths by the police at a protest against the sacrilege incidents. At the end of his speech, Pappalpreet Singh had also said that "Khalistan is the only solution". The case was later dropped in 2018 following the recommendations of the Justice Mehtab Singh Gill Commission.

In 2016, Pappalpreet Singh joined Simranjit Singh Mann's party Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), and campaigned extensively for Mann in Barnala during the 2017 Assembly elections. However, Mann fared poorly and secured less than four percent votes in the seat. Later that year, Pappalpreet Singh resigned from the party. His social media profiles, all of which are now banned in India, indicate his support for Khalistan. Only a fraction of videos on his YouTube channel were of him speaking, and most were dedicated to interviews with families of slain militants, pro-Khalistan intellectuals, and activists.

In a 2016 radio interview, Pappalpreet Singh revealed that his main inspiration is Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, the founder of the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan, a militant group that was powerful in Tarn Taran during the insurgency. Besides advocating for Khalistan, Pappalpreet Singh had also been fighting for the release of Sikh prisoners who have been incarcerated for decades.

Amritpal Singh, who is believed to have a strong network of supporters in Punjab, had been evading arrest for some time. He was on the radar of the Indian security forces for his alleged involvement in a grenade attack on a religious congregation in Amritsar's Nirankari Bhawan in November 2018 that left three people dead and over a dozen injured. He was also suspected of having links with other militant outfits, including Babbar Khalsa International.