Drone deployed in Hoshiarpur to search for Amritpal

Hoshiarpur: Police on Thursday deployed a drone in a village in Hoshiarpur district where some suspects had abandoned their car following a chase two days ago, as radical preacher Amritpal Singh remained untraceable. Cops deployed in and around Marnaian village were also checking vehicles in the search of the radical preacher. With police resuming their search in the area, they deployed a drone in the village, sources said.

There was, however, no official comment on it from the police department. Paramilitary personnel have also been deployed in and around the village.

Earlier, the Punjab Police had launched a massive search operation in the Hoshiarpur village and many adjoining areas following inputs that the radical preacher and his aides could be in the area. The Hoshiarpur action began as police chased a car, which some sources said may have carried Amritpal Singh and his aides, on Tuesday night.

They abandoned the vehicle at the village and disappeared. There were also reports that the suspects could have used another car to escape. Police have also conducted a door-to-door search operation but no success has been achieved yet.

Amritpal Singh remains untraceable since the police crackdown against him and members of his pro-Khalistan 'Waris Punjab De' outfit began on March 18, about three weeks after he and his supporters stormed into the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested man. The preacher escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances.

He 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. Police have already stepped up security in and around Amritsar and Bathinda amid reports that Amritpal may surrender after entering either the Golden Temple or the Takht Sri Damdama Sahib.

The Punjab government has informed the Akal Takht that 348 of the 360 people taken into preventive custody during a police crackdown against radical preacher Amritpal Singh have now been freed.