Fugitive Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh is known as the successor of Deep Sidhu as the leader of his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’. However, new details in the case and recoveries from police crackdown reveal how he twisted reality for many of the late actor’s followers.
It appears that Deep Sidhu did not see Amritpal as his ideological heir. The actor had blocked the radical preacher’s number before his tragic death in a road accident in February 2022, revealed his family.
Amritpal first tried to gain control of ‘Waris Punjab De’. The organisation was created by Deep Sidhu's brother Mandeep at Fathehgarh Sahib on July 4, 2022. It was made as per the late actor’s desire to serve Punjab and promote 'Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan', spread awareness about pollution-related issues, draw drug-addicted youths towards sports, and help people during natural disasters, Sidhu’s brother revealed.
Mandeep had established ‘Waris Punjab De’ with strict regulations in place which included election for office-bearers. However, Amritpal tried to take control of the outfit and demanded its papers from Mandeep when he returned from overseas in August 2022. Mandeep said he refused to hand them over and Sidhu’s family refused to acknowledge Amritpal as his ideological heir.
When Amritpal failed to gain control of ‘Waris Punjab De’, he decided to create a similar sounding outfit 'Warris Panj-Aab De' to encash Sidhu's popularity, documents confiscated by the Police during the crackdown reveal.
The new outfit was able to get Deep Sidhu’s official Facebook page linked to it after it surfaced out of nowhere. It amassed a massive following on Facebook which caused confusion among people as they started to assume Amritpal had become the successor of Sidhu’s outfit.
The new outfit was registered in Moga district with an allegedly backdated inception date of December 15, 2021. The address of the organisation was "Guru Nanak Furniture Store" in Duneke village, which is owned by Amritpal's close associate Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala. Police have taken Bukkanwala into custody. He is charged under the National Security Act and sent to Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam. He revealed during questioning that contacts were used to register the outfit backdated.
Meanwhile, manhunt for Amritpal Singh is still on with the fugitive preacher on the run since police crackdown against him on March 18. He had slipped away when his cavalcade was intercepted in Jalandhar district on the fateful day.
