Indian police arrest 112 in search of Sikh separatist leader
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The police said its “manhunt” was ongoing and the overall “situation is under control.
NEW DELHI (AFP) – A manhunt for a radical Sikh preacher in India entered its second day on Sunday, after authorities arrested 112 of his supporters and shut mobile internet across the Punjab state.
Amritpal Singh rose to prominence in recent months demanding the creation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, and with his inter¬pretation of Sik¬hism at rallies in rural pockets of the northern state of some 30 million people.
Last month Singh, 30, and his supporters allegedly armed with swords, knives and guns raided a police station after one of his aides was arrested for a suspected assault and attempted kidnapping.
After the operation began on Saturday, Pun¬jab police tweeted late in the day that 112 had been arrested in the “mega crackdown”.
But Singh himself was not thought to be among them.
On Sunday, there was a major police presence across Punjab, especially around Singh’s village of Jallupur Khera, local media reported.
The police said its “manhunt” was ongoing and the overall “situation is under control, citizens (are) requested to not believe in rumours”.
Local media reports said the Punjab government ordered the mobile internet shutdown to be in place until Monday noon.
Authorities frequently shut down mobile internet services, particularly in India-held Kashmir.
Singh is the leader of Waris Punjab De, or Heirs of Punjab, who has publicly supported the Khalistan movement for a separate homeland for the Sikhs, a minority community comprising about 1.7 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population.
The suspension of mobile internet and SMS services will continue until noon on Monday, according to an order issued by the Punjab government, “to prevent any incitement to violence and any disturbance of peace and public order.”
Police in the Punjab city of Amritsar said members of the organization have been named in a first information report, which authorities typically use to launch an official investigation.
“Last night a FIR under (the) Arms Act has been registered against them, and Amritpal Singh is the main accused in the FIR,” Satinder Singh, senior superintendent of Amritsar police, told reporters on Sunday.
Amritsar authorities also seized six illegal weapons, he added.
Singh’s supporters have reportedly compared him to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a militant leader of the Khalistan movement that peaked in the 1980s, who was eventually killed in a military operation in 1984.
Thousands of people died during that violent period in Punjab’s history, which also led to the assassination of India’s then-prime minister, Indira Gandhi, by two Sikh security guards, which in turn sparked anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and elsewhere that left several thousand more dead and injured.
In the decades since, the separatist movement has lost a lot of support.
Not much is known about Singh’s early years, though he reportedly moved to Dubai in 2012 to join his family’s transport business. Last August, he returned to India looking visibly different from old photos, appearing as a devout, practicing Sikh, and was appointed head of Waris Punjab De about a month later, in a ceremony attended by thousands of people.
