India arrests 112 people, shuts down mobile internet in manhunt for radical Sikh separatist
- Amritpal Singh is demanding the creation of a separate Sikh homeland. Last month Singh and his supporters raided a police station after one of his aides was arrested
- On Sunday police in Punjab said 112 people had been arrested but Singh himself was not thought to be among them
A manhunt for a radical Sikh preacher in India entered its second day on Sunday, as authorities shut mobile internet in the whole of Punjab state and arrested 112 of his supporters.
Amritpal Singh rose to prominence in recent months demanding the creation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, and with his hardline interpretation of Sikhism at rallies in rural pockets of the northern state of some 30 million people.
Last month Singh, 30, and his supporters armed with swords, knives and guns raided a police station after one of his aides was arrested for alleged assault and attempted kidnapping.
The brazen daytime raid in the outskirts of Amritsar – home to the holiest Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple – left several police injured and heaped pressure on authorities to act against Singh.
After the operation began on Saturday, Punjab police tweeted late in the day that 78 had been arrested in the “mega crackdown”.
But Singh himself was not thought to be among them.
The police said late Sunday that it “made [more] preventive arrests” of people “attempting to disturb law and order in Punjab”.
“Thirty-four arrests have been made today. A total of 112 persons have been arrested so far … and there is complete peace and harmony in the state,” it added.