'Amritpal Singh in Nepal': Indian Embassy requests Kathmandu to arrest Khalistan preacher if he tries to flee

New Delhi: The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the Nepal government not to permit fugitive pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh to travel to a third country via Nepal, reports said.

In a letter sent to the Department of Consular Services on Saturday, the Indian embassy in Kathmandu requested the Nepal government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal.

“Singh is currently hiding in Nepal,” reads a copy of the letter obtained by the Kathmandu Post.

“The esteemed ministry is requested to inform the Department of Immigration not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal for any third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape from Nepal using Indian Passport or any other fake passport under intimation to this mission.”

The letter and Singh’s personal details have been circulated to all the concerned agencies from hotels to airlines, multiple sources told the Post. Singh is said to be possessing multiple passports with different identities.

Meanwhile another Nepali media report said the Nepalese Ministry of Home Affairs has instructed all security agencies to be on high alert in the Nepal-India border area.

According to Ministry sources, the directive was given at the request of Indian security officials and the Nepal-India border area has been kept on 'high alert' for two days.

Such instructions have been given because there is a possibility that Amritpal Singh has come or may come to Nepal.

According to the Nepal Home Ministry's top sources, limited police officers working in the Special Bureau of Nepal Police and the Intelligence Bureau of the Armed Police have reached the Nepal-India border area.

The Special Bureau has already reported to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Basant Kunwar, who took charge of the police organization only on Monday.

Indian security sources informed the Special Bureau of the Nepal Police and the Intelligence Bureau of the Armed Police that Singh, who heads a separatist organization called Waris Punjab De, had reached Uttarakhand.

Two days ago, the Armed Police Force IGP Raju Aryal also took a report on this matter. "Both police organizations have mobilized their mechanisms," said a high source at the Nepal Ministry of Home Affairs, the report said.

According to the sources, police in plain clothes have increased vigilance in the border area as Singh and his associates can come to Nepal from West Nepal from Kapilavastu.

The Himalayan Times said that Indian security sources informed the Special Bureau of the Nepal Police and the Intelligence Bureau of the Armed Police that Singh had reached Uttarakhand, and that he could enter Nepal from there.

Department of Immigration has alerted its offices, particularly those at airports to prevent Amritpal Singh who could flee to a third country using Nepali territory either on his own passport or a fake passport.

DG Jhalak Ram Adhikari told the daily that the Indian Embassy had written to his office yesterday seeking his office's help in stopping 'Khalistan separatist' Amritpal Singh from fleeing to a third country.

The Indian Embassy has provided the photograph of the Punjabi fugitive and all details about him. The embassy also has flagged Nepali authorities that Amritpal Singh could flee to a third country using his own passport or a fake passport.

Adhikari said that all passengers who wanted to go abroad using Nepal's airport would be screened at the airport and people like Singh who were under the Department of Immigration’s surveillance cannot flee. (UNI)