Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Saturday asked fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh to surrender to the police and cooperate with the investigation.
The Jathedar of the Akal Takht (the highest secular seat of the Sikhs) also questioned the competence of the police, wondering why they were unable to arrest the self-proclaimed Sikh preacher despite having such a large force.
“If Amritpal is missing (from the police net), then I will ask him to appear (before the police) and cooperate with the (police) investigation,” the Jathedar said.
Singh’s statements came after the Punjab police crackdown on radical preacher Amritpal Singh and members of the Waris Punjab De organization led by him.
Amritpal has been on the run since March 18, when the police crackdown began.
Several images and videos showed him boarding multiple vehicles to evade police.
The preacher himself eluded the police and escaped their net when his cavalcade was intercepted in the Jalandhar region. His whereabouts are still unknown.
The Punjab government passed the strictest national security law against him and some of his associates.
In a video message on Saturday, the Jathedar said the biggest question on the minds of every Sikh living around the world is how Amritpal could not be arrested despite having a large police force in the state. According to him, this raises questions about the work of the police.
Singh said that if the preacher has already been arrested, then the police should report it.
The fugitive’s parents previously expressed fears that their son had already been detained by the police.
He also asked the police to keep in mind that the Sikh youths detained in the Amritpal case had not committed such serious crimes as alleged.
Amritpal and his numerous accomplices were repeatedly brought to justice by the police.
The Akal Takht Jathedar also called a special meeting in which around 60-70 Sikh organisations, seminaries and Nihang organizations attended to discuss the situation in Punjab. No representatives of political organizations were invited.