A new picture of Khalistan supporter Amritpal Singh along with his key aide Papalpreet Singh surfaced on social media on Monday, while in another development another close aide of the hardline preacher was taken into custody under the stringent National Security Act (Rasuka). .

Amritpal Singh has been missing since the police crackdown on radical preacher and members of his organization 'Waris Punjab De' started on March 18 in Punjab.

Officials said the picture in question is from a day after the police crackdown on a Khalistan supporter began, in which the two men are seen in a relaxed pose and Amritpal Singh is seen holding a can of drink.

On the other hand, in another development, Varinder Singh alias Fauji, a close aide of Amritpal Singh, was arrested by the Amritsar Rural Police.

Police said he was part of Amritpal's personal security squad.

In this regard, a senior police officer told that Varinder Singh has been booked under the National Security Act and he is being sent to Dibrugarh Jail in Assam, where some of Amritpal Singh's alleged associates are already lodged under the relevant law.

Papalpreet Singh seen in the picture is said to be the guide of Amritpal Singh.

He was allegedly in touch with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.

In this picture, Amritpal Singh is seen wearing a jacket, turban and glasses.

His companion sitting beside him is seen wearing a sweatshirt.

The police operation began about three weeks after Amritpal Singh and his supporters entered the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to demand the release of an arrested colleague.

Police had earlier said that Amritpal Singh and Papalpreet Singh were allegedly given shelter by a woman at her house in Shahabad in Haryana's Kurukshetra district on March 19.

On March 25, a CCTV footage purportedly showed Amritpal Singh talking on a mobile phone.

Amritpal had escaped from the police trap in Jalandhar district on March 18.

Cases have been registered against him and his associates under various criminal charges related to promoting disharmony, attempt to murder, assault on policemen and obstructing public servants from discharging their duties.

The Punjab Police said on Sunday that it has released 197 of the 353 people taken into preventive custody.

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