Amritpal Singh row: Punjab Police launch massive search operation after suspect abandoned car following chase

The Punjab Police launched a massive search operation on Tuesday in Hoshiarpur after some suspects abandoned their vehicle after a chase. The police had been searching for Amritpal Singh, a pro-Taliban radical preacher who led an attack on a police station a few weeks ago.

The police, suspecting that Amritpal Singh could be in the car from Phagwara, chased a vehicle. The occupants of the car abandoned the vehicle and fled near Gurdwara Bhai Chanchal Singh in Marnaian village.

The police have launched a cordon and search operation outside the village. They have also erected barricades near the village.

On March 18, the Punjab Police carried out a crackdown on Singh's Waris Punjab De group three weeks after he and his supporters created a ruckus in the Ajnala police station near Amritsar. They had stormed the premises to secure the release of a kidnapping accused. Singh had been absconding since then.

He had been escaping arrest by changing appearances and location . 

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.

A new video of Amritpal Singh with his key aide Papalpreet Singh surfaced on social media on Tuesday, showing the pro-Khalistan preacher without a turban and wearing a mask.

The undated CCTV footage, said to be from a market in Delhi, showed the fugitive walking down a street wearing dark glasses. Behind him, Papalpreet Singh could be seen walking with a bag.

With inputs from PTI