Hoshiarpur: As radical preacher Amritpal Singh remained at large, police on Thursday used a drone to search a village in the Hoshiarpur area where several suspects had abandoned their car after a chase two days prior.
Police officers searching for the extremist preacher also conducted vehicle checks in the areas surrounding Marnaian village. After resuming their search, authorities reportedly sent a drone over the village.
Yet the police had nothing official to say about it.
The area around the settlement has also been bolstered by paramilitary forces. After receiving information that the radical preacher and his associates might be in the Hoshiarpur village, the Punjab Police started a large search operation.
The events in Hoshiarpur began on Tuesday night, when police pursued a car suspected of carrying Amritpal Singh and his associates. I left the car in the village and vanished.
It was also speculated that the suspects would have been able to use a second vehicle to make their getaway.
The police have also gone door to door, but have had no luck so yet.
Three weeks after Amritpal Singh and his supporters stormed the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested man, on March 18, a police crackdown against him and members of his pro-Khalistan 'Waris Punjab De' organisation began.
The preacher escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances.
He and his associates have been charged with a wide range of crimes, 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.
There have been rumours that Amritpal will surrender if he enters either the Golden Temple or the Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, thus police have increased patrols in and around Amritsar and Bathinda.—Inputs from Agencies