Amritpal Singh, a separatist leader in the northern province of Punjab, which has a history of deadly insurgency, was apprehended by Indian officials on Sunday, putting an end to a large manhunt for the preacher who rekindled discussions for an independent Sikh nation.
Since mid-March, the 30-year-old self-styled preacher has been dodging capture. In February, he attracted widespread notice when he and his supporters stormed a Punjab police station with weapons and swords, wounding six police officers while demanding the release of one of his aides.
Police in Punjab said Singh was detained early Sunday morning, as authorities appealed to the public to maintain peace and harmony.
The fugitive was arrested under the National Security Act, which allows those deemed a threat to national security to be detained without charge for up to a year, he added.
He is the leader of Waris Punjab De, or Heirs of Punjab, and has publicly supported the Khalistan movement for a separate homeland for Sikhs, a minority community comprising about 1.7 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population.
The Khalistan movement sparked violence in the 1980s and early 1990s that left thousands dead in Punjab, India's only state with a majority of Sikhs.
After the incident in February, Singh gained notoriety. This raised concerns about potential violence related to the separatist insurgency, which prompted the authorities to launch a crackdown last month and resulted in the arrest of more than 100 of his supporters.
The independence movement, according to many Indians, has, nevertheless, lost a lot of support in recent years.
Since mid-March, the 30-year-old self-styled preacher has been dodging capture. In February, he attracted widespread notice when he and his supporters stormed a Punjab police station with weapons and swords, wounding six police officers while demanding the release of one of his aides.
Police in Punjab said Singh was detained early Sunday morning, as authorities appealed to the public to maintain peace and harmony.
The fugitive was arrested under the National Security Act, which allows those deemed a threat to national security to be detained without charge for up to a year, he added.
He is the leader of Waris Punjab De, or Heirs of Punjab, and has publicly supported the Khalistan movement for a separate homeland for Sikhs, a minority community comprising about 1.7 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population.
The Khalistan movement sparked violence in the 1980s and early 1990s that left thousands dead in Punjab, India's only state with a majority of Sikhs.
After the incident in February, Singh gained notoriety. This raised concerns about potential violence related to the separatist insurgency, which prompted the authorities to launch a crackdown last month and resulted in the arrest of more than 100 of his supporters.
The independence movement, according to many Indians, has, nevertheless, lost a lot of support in recent years.
