Amritpal likely in Nepal, India asks not to let him to flee to 3rd country

Nepal on Monday put fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in the country, on its surveillance list after India requested it not to allow him to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport or any other fake passport.

The Department of Immigration has put Singh on its surveillance list following a request from the Indian Embassy here, officials said.

"We have received a written note along with a copy of his passport from the (Indian) embassy suspecting that Amritpal Singh might have entered Nepal," said Kamal Prasad Pandey, the Information Officer at the Department.

"The Indian Embassy has sent the note asking the Department to put Singh, a member of a separatist group, on the surveillance list," Pandey said.

It was suspected that he had entered Nepal and was hiding somewhere around.

There was no immediate confirmation about the letter from the Indian mission here.

Earlier, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported that in a letter sent to the Department of Consular Services on Saturday, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal.

"Singh is currently hiding in Nepal," the paper said, citing a copy of the letter obtained by it.

"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, it said.

The letter and Singh's personal details have been circulated to all the concerned agencies from hotels to airlines, the paper said, citing multiple sources.

Singh, who is said to be possessing multiple passports with different identities, has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him.

The elusive preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjab's Jalandhar district.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has directed all security agencies to be on high alert in the Nepal-India border area.

Citing ministry sources, My Republica newspaper said that the instruction was given at the request of Indian security officials and the Nepal-India border area has been kept on 'high alert' for two days.

Quoting sources, the report said that police in plain clothes have stepped up vigilance in the border area as Singh could enter the country from Kapilvastu in Western Nepal.