Fugitive Amritpal applies for UK citizenship to escape Indian law

In a bid to escape the long hands of Indian law, fugitive Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh wants to become a citizen of the United Kingdom now. According to reports, the Waris Punjab De chief had applied for British citizenship in February after his marriage with Kiran Kaur.

Kaur is a UK-based NRI and is on Punjab Police radar as her name has figured in garnering foreign funds for 'Waris Punjab De'. Amritpal's application is pending with British authorities and they are yet to take a call on the matter, reports CNN-News 18.

Amritpal's move to seek UK help is seen as an attempt from the radical Sikh preacher to escape Indian law amid the pressure and atmosphere being built up against him by the Indian authorities.

Notably, the UK and Canada remain safe havens for Indian gangsters and Khalistanis, with some lawmakers there showing unwavering support for terrorist activities. British Sikh Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi had come out in support of Amritpal expressing concern over the arrests of Khalistani elements and temporary suspension of mobile internet services in Punjab.

"Very worrying reports coming from India, of the imposition of an internet blackout in the Punjab State, with mass arrests and restrictions on gatherings," tweeted Dhesi, a turbaned Sikh MP from Slough.

Amritpal shot to fame in February when hundreds of his supporters stormed a police station in Punjab with swords and guns to demand the release of a jailed aide. Punjab Police are on a hot pursuit of the Khalistan sympathiser.

He spent a decade in Dubai working in his family's transport business before returning to India in September last year. Since then, he has been leading marches calling for protecting the rights of Sikhs, who account for about 1.7 per cent of the country's population.

Amritpal was spotted in CCTV cameras in a town of Haryana's Kurukshetra district on March 20 after spending the night in the house of a woman, who has since been arrested. The last known location of Amritpal Singh, based on the chronology of footage collected by investigators, was Shahabad-Markanda town in Kurukshetra, around 220 km from Punjab's Jalandhar.