The Amritpal Singh manhunt: Waris Punjab De chief vs Punjab Police, a timeline

Amritpal Singh, the radical preacher who leads Waris Punjab De, continues to elude authorities with the hunt for him entering its fourth day on March 21. The Punjab Police has launched a massive manhunt to get Amritpal Singh. Many of his close aides are in police custody and nearly 80,000 cops are combing through the whole of Punjab to find the man who laid siege to a police station in Ajnala in Amritsar around 20 days ago. Police, along with paramilitary forces, are conducting flag marches across the state to allay fears among citizens and security has been beefed up across the India-Nepal border along with other international borders on orders of the central government.      

On Tuesday, Amritpal Singh was booked under the National Security Act (NSA), sources have claimed. At least 114 have been detained for alleged attempts to disturb the peace and harmony in Punjab. 

Amritpal Singh made headlines for the first time on February 23, when he and his men laid siege to a police station in Ajnala in a bid to secure the release of his aide Lovepreet Toofan. The Punjab Police initially responded with caution and eventually relented and then went on to launch an epic manhunt.  

Sukhchain Singh Gill, inspector-general police (IGP) in Punjab said Amritpal Singh was attempting to form a 'jathebandi', a private army of sorts. "We have a strong suspicion of an ISI angle, based on the facts and circumstances that have come to light so far. We also have a very strong suspicion of foreign funding. Going by the circumstances, it seems that ISI is involved and there is foreign funding as well." 

Anarchy in Punjab: A Timeline 

• March 20: Amritpal Singh still at large, police arrested the social media chief of Waris Punjab De Gur Aulia and Kulwant Rauke. Punjab Police also invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against five men, including Amritpal's uncle Harjit Singh. Earlier in the day, Harjit was produced before Baba Bakala court in Amritsar and was later moved to Dibrugarh in Assam by the Punjab Police. IGP Police Sukhchain Singh Gill also conducted press meeting to share details of statewide crackdown. 

• March 19: Seven close aides of Amritpal Singh were arrested and sent to police custody by a Punjab court. The same day, police nabbed 16 more aides of the Waris Punjab De chief from Bhatinda. Authorites also recovered bulletproof jackets and weapons from his close aides. 

• March 18: Punjab Police launched a statewide search operation to nab Amritpal Singh and close-aides who all attempted to disrupt the law and order situation in the state. The Punjab Police also arrested six closed aides of the extremist leader from Jalandhar. Police officials from eight districts of Punjab conducted a joint-operation to catch Amritpal. Cops chased the convoy of the Waris Punjab De chief when he was travelling from Jalandhar to Moga. However, he managed to flee. 

• February 28: In a major overhaul, the Punjab government removed police commissioner of Amritsar Jaskaran Singh and transferred the charge to Naunihal Singh. The government also made 18 transfers of police officials. IPS Arunpal Singh was posted as ADGP Modernisation Punjab Chandigarh, IPS RK Jaiswal as ADGP STF Punjab SAS Nagar, IPS Gurinder Dhillon as ADGP Law and Order Chandigarh and IPS Mohnish Chawla as ADGP State Crime Records Bureau Punjab.

• February 26: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann broke his silence on the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab. Referring to the Ajnala violence, he took to Twitter and wrote, "Shabad Guru Sheesh who carries Guru Granth Sahib ji with a shield to the police stations cannot be called "heir" of Punjab and Punjabiat from any side." The Central government also blocked the Instagram handle of the Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh. 

• February 24: After the violent clash, the Punjab Police came down to negotiate with Amritpal and filed a discharge application in the Ajnala court. The Punjab Police stated that his release is being done on the basis of evidence produced by Amritpal Singh and an SIT team will probe the matter further. The order to set free Toofan was pronounced by Judicial Magistrate Pratham Manpreet Kaur of Ajnala court based on documents submitted by Punjab Police. After making the state police bow down to his terms, Lovepreet Toofan along with Amritpal Singh, visited the Golden temple. Both were seen heading to the Golden Temple in an open-roof Mercedes with the sword-bearing supporters. The 'victory march' was to celebrate the release of Toofan from the Amritsar central jail. 

• February 23: Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh, along with his supporters, launched an attack on Punjab Police and barged into the Ajnala Police Station. The mob led by Amritpal, broke all the barricades laid out to stop them, and outnumbered the police force deployed to control law and order. The strong reaction came days after Punjab Police filed an FIR against Amritpal and apprehended one of his close-aides, Lovepreet Toofan, on charges of kidnapping. The violent episode also left several police personnel injured.