Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh 'Mintoo' who along with five others escaped from the high security jail in Nabha on Sunday, was arrested by Punjab Police after he was deported from Thailand in November 2014.
A group of armed men in police uniform on Sunday attacked the Nabha Jail in Patiala and fled with five prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.
The police said that they needed the custody of the dreaded terrorist to know about the role of "insiders and outsiders" who assisted him and five others in fleeing from Nabha jail in Patiala.
Was the recent Nabha jailbreak a comment on lax security in Punjab jails? Or a sign that the separatist movement of the 1980s is dormant but alive?
Sikh Federation UK, which has styled itself as one of the largest Sikh organisations based in the UK, said Avtar Singh was terminally ill with blood cancer. He was on a life support system for the last few days.
Police said the jailbreak in all likelihood was plotted at their hideout in Dehradun.