Farmers offer thieves UPI payments to spare tubewell motors
After dozens of tubewell motors vanished in a single night, Punjab farmers came up with an unusual solution: asking thieves to take digital payments instead.
A day after the Punjab Police said fugitive Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh had crossed over to neighbouring Haryana, Haryana home minister Anil Vij on Friday questioned the seriousness of the Punjab government to arrest the secessionist campaigner.
Speaking to reporters in Ambala, Vij said the entire Punjab Police was searching for Amritpal in Jalandhar following the crackdown launched against the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief on 18 March while rthe latter was having dinner in Shahabad (Kurukshetra) on 19 March.
“After we got the information (about Amritpal’s presence in Kurukshetra), we immediately intimated Punjab Police but it took them more than a day to reach Shahabad. If he was the most wanted and you are taking so much time in reaching a specific location despite getting information then it all appears to be a political drama of the Punjab government,” he added.
The Punjab Police spokesperson and Inspector General of Police (IGP) headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill on Thursday said Amritpal was last seen in Haryana’s Kurukshetra on 19 March where he took shelter in a woman’s house.
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The IGP said after hiding in a gurdwara at Mangal Ambian village in Jalandhar district, Amritpal – who is on the run since a police crackdown on his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’ began on Saturday – took a motorcycle and reached Sheikhupur village in Phillaur tehsil of Jalandhar district in Punjab.
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From there, the ‘Waris Punjab De’ head along with accomplice Babbal Preet crossed Sutlej river on an abandoned railway bridge between Phillaur and Laddowal. From there, he took a truck to cross over to Haryana. Then, the duo spent the night in Kurukshetra and left the place early in the morning on 20 March.
The Haryana Police have arrested Baljit Kaur who allegedly harboured Amritpal Singh and his associate Babbal Preet at her home in Kurukshetra. The woman was known to Babbal Preet for more than two-and-half-years and he has stayed there several times.
“We have nabbed the woman, Baljit Kaur, who harboured Amritpal and his associate Papalpreet Singh at her home in Shahabad on Sunday. The woman has been handed over to Punjab Police,” said Kurukshetra superintendent of police Surinder Singh Bhoria yesterday.
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