• By Nikhil Singh
  • Mon, 20 Mar 2023 02:32 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND
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THE MERCEDES SUV that fugitive Amritpal Singh used to escape Punjab Police is registered in the name of a drug dealer. Singh’s images while driving and using the car to roam in Amritsar have gone viral in the past.

The car belongs to Ravel Singh, top government officials were quoted as saying by NDTV. On Saturday when the police officials were chasing Amritpal Singh, he used this car to flee and then later ditched it to mislead the cops.

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Ravel Singh had allegedly gifted the SUV to Amritpal Singh. As part of his outreach to people, Singh was often seen waving off from the sunroof of the vehicle. After ditching the SUV, Singh was last seen escaping on a bike.

The search for Amritpal Singh by the Punjab Police has entered its third day. So far, the police have arrested or detained 78 leaders and workers of his group Waris Punjab De.

Singh was allegedly recruiting and training young people recovering in drug de-addiction centres to be militants and ‘human bombs’, according to state officials. His group was also storing guns and other weapons in these centres and a Gurudwara.

Earlier, several social media users had claimed that the car used by Amritpal Singh was owned by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader Premnath Mehani. However, Mehani had sold this car to a dealership - T&T Motors in New Delhi, according to an Indian Express report. Later the dealership sold the car to a Delhi resident Amit Varma who then sold it to Ravel Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran.

Security agencies suspect that Amritpal Singh has ties to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and that it helped him to run a drugs racket in Punjab. His group was running several drug de-addiction centres in the state, which he allegedly used to indoctrinate several young addicts for the cause of a separate Sikh state of Khalistan.

Officials have also alleged that Amritpal Singh had links to Dubai-based Jaswant Singh Rode whose brother is allegedly in the business of peddling drugs.

 

(With agency inputs)