Fugitive Amritpal Singh has been on a run since the last 12 days after the Punjab Police launched a massive manhunt to apprehend the chief of Waris Punjab De, an organisation propagating Khalistani ideology. Amritpal Singh had earlier led a violent armed crowd at Ajnala police station in Punjab to get one of his aides freed from prison. As his prominence shot up after the Ajnala violence, the Khalistani fugitive gave several news interviews, promoting his views on Khalistan, a separate country for Sikhs.
However, as Punjab Police and security agencies swung into action to contain the growing fear after Amritpal's rise and arrested over hundred people linked to him, the Khalistani leader ran away and went incognito. After escaping police in Jalandhar on the first day, Amritpal has traveled to multiple states including Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi before he was suspected to have crossed into neighbouring Nepal.
While Amritpal switched cities and states to evade arrest, a fascinating detail has emerged after police followed his trail. Almost all people who gave refuge to him while he was on a run have turned out to be women.
More than 10 women friends of Papalpreet are under the radar of the authorities and their phone and social media accounts are under surveillance, India Today has reported. Though the details of all 10 women are not available, we know about three women who gave him refuge.
Here are the women who gave harbour to the Khalistani fugitive:
1) Baljit Kaur, Haryana
In a joint operation with Haryana police last week, Punjab police arrested Baljit Kaur, a 30-year-old woman from Kurukshetra, for allegedly harboring Amritpal Singh. The investigation, supported by CCTV footage from multiple locations, revealed that Amritpal and his associate Pappalpreet Singh had arrived at Kaur's unfinished house on the night and stayed overnight.
“Kaur has a radical bent of mind," investigating agencies said, adding that she knew Amritpal's copmanion Papalpreet Singh for two years.
Kaur is reportedly an MBA graduate from Hisar. She told the investigating agencies that on the night when Papalpreet and Amritpal reached her house, the latter was carrying a gun.
Kaur's phone and social media accounts were scrutinized by the investigating agencies, revealing that she was studying "radical literature." In addition, the agencies discovered that Kaur had created some social media videos showcasing historical gurdwaras, which were later shared on Papalpreet's social media profiles.
Kaur's brother Harvinder, who works at the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's Office in Shahbad, was the one who initially informed the police about Amritpal's arrival.
Amritpal and Papalpreet stayed at Kaur's house all night on March 19 and made a few calls using her mobile.
2) Balbir Kaur, Punjab
A woman from Punjab's Patiala was arrested for sheltering Amritpal and his aide, police said on Sunday.
Amritpal and his companion Papalpreet Singh spent the night at Balbir Kaur's home in Patiala's Hargobind Nagar.
Kaur (61), a former teacher, was acquainted with Amritpal's aide Papalpreet.
“Balbir Kaur came in contact with Papalpreet, media adviser to Amritpal, during a gurmat samagam held in a Patiala school two years ago. Balbir was a teacher in a school, meant for the propagation of religious preaching,” said an officer aware of the investigation.
“Balbir told the police that she was unaware of Papalpreet’s association with Amritpal. She received a call from Papalpreet on March 18 that he might come to interview her,” an official said.
Amritpal and Papalpreet used her mobile while they were house guests, the woman told the authorities. An official reported, "They also took her Activa scooter, promising that they will return shortly."
3) Unnamed Delhi woman
Intelligence agencies have discovered that Amritpal Singh was in Delhi days before Nepal added him to its list of wanted individuals. Sources said that a second-year Delhi University student gave him and his friend Papalpreet refuge in her rented apartment in East Delhi's Laxmi Nagar.
The woman allegedly met Papalpreet during the farmers' rally in Delhi, and he had already paid her house two visits, according to sources who spoke with The Indian Express. She is from a region close to his village, they claimed.
