Two months after he and his followers stormed the Ajnala police station complex demanding the release of his aide Lovepreet Singh, radical preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh has ended up in police custody.
From being a truck driver in Dubai till 2021 to becoming the chief of Waris Punjab De, Amritpal Singh's rise has been astronomical. Here is the timeline of how he emerged as the country's most wanted man.
2012: Amritpal leaves for Dubai to work with his uncle Harjith Singh Sandhu.
September 2021: Deep Sidhu creates 'Waris Punjab De' as "a pressure group to protect and fight for rights of Punjab and raise social issues." Sidhu was already famous by then as an important part of the farmers' protest against the Narendra Modi government's farm laws.
February 15, 2022: Deep Sidhu dies in a car accident.
September 29: Amritpal Singh appointed 'Waris Punjab De' chief. A letter of appointment was also posted on Facebook. Sidhu's family was reportedly not happy about Amritpal heading the organisation as they claim Sidhu himself had maintained a distance from Amritpal.
February 23: Amritpal Singh and his supporters, armed with swords, storm into a police complex in Ajnala, Amritsar, demanding the release of his aide Lovepreet Singh aka Toofan who was being charged with kidnapping.
February 24: Ajnala court ordered the release of Lovepreet Singh.
March 2: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the latter's residence in Delhi. It was at this meeting that a decision was taken to initiate a crackdown against Waris Punjab De chief and his aides. Shah promised Mann every possible help, including sending Central Armed Forces.
March 18: Punjab Police begins a crackdown on Amritpal Singh and his aides. 73 people were arrested. However, Amritpal escapes the police net.
March 19: Punjab Police declares Amritpal Singh a fugitive
March 28: Police chase the vehicle carrying Amritpal and his aide Pappalpreet Singh. Both manage to evade the police once again.
March 30: Videos and one audio clip of Amritpal surface on social media. He is heard asserting that he was not a fugitive and would soon appear.
April 10: Punjab Police arrests pro-Khalistani sympathiser and Amritpal's aide Papalpreet Singh from Hoshiarpur.
April 20: Amritpal Singh's wife Kirandeep Kaur stopped from boarding a flight from Amritsar to the UK.
April 23: Amritpal Singh arrested from Moga in Punjab. He reportedly surrendered before the police.