Even as radical Sikh preacher Amripal Singh is still at large despite a massive manhunt launched by Punjab Police, his close aide Papalpreet Singh was arrested from Kathunangal area of Amritsar on Monday.
Police said Papalpreet was nabbed in a joint operation of the Punjab Police and its counter intelligence wing, and has been detained under the stringent National Security Act. Six other cases have also been registered against him.
Papalpreet is considered to be Amritpal's mentor and has allegedly been in contact with Pakistan's ISI, reported PTI.
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.
Both Amritpal and Papalpreet had been on the run since March 18 when police launched a crackdown on the Khalistani sympathiser and his aides. Since then, many pictures of the duo had surfaced on social media with one showing them roaming around a street in Delhi.
Amritpal 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.
