Chandigarh/IBNS: Amritpal Singh, the fugitive Sikh separatist leader who had been on the run for more than a month, was arrested after a massive operation involving surrounding of a village where he was hiding, the Punjab Police said on Sunday.
Singh, who had supported calls for the formation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, was wanted for several charges, including attempted murder, obstruction of law enforcement, and creating disharmony.
He and his supporters, armed with swords, knives, and guns, had raided a police station in March and clashed with policemen.
The police said they had received information that Singh was present in Rode village, near Moga district, and had deployed a large number of personnel to seal off all the routes to the village.
According to the police, the 29-year-old surrendered at a gurudwara in Rode village in the Moga district. He even delivered a sermon ahead of surrendering to the police.
Amritpal Singh has been arrested by Punjab Police around 6:45 am this morning in village Rode, said senior police officer Sukhchain Singh.
We surrounded Amritpal with restraint, and he had no way to escape. We waited and did not enter the gurdwara to maintain its sanctity. We could not have entered in uniform, he said.
Amritpal Singh has been sent to Dibrugarh under the National Security Act and will be questioned thoroughly, the police officer said.
Moga is the birthplace of Khalistani separatist and terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Amritpal Singh claims to be his follower and is known as Bhindranwale 2.0 among his supporters.
Pictures of the radical preacher while being taken into custody have surfaced on social media. He can be seen a wearing traditional white robe.
Amritpal Singh was shifted to Assams Dibrugarh, where eight of his aides are already being held under the National Security Act, which allows detention for up to a year without any charge.
The radical Sikh preacher made open statements about declaring secession from India and creating Khalistan, while also threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann.
He also referred to the assassinations of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Chief Minister Beant Singh by terrorists to warn the ministers and law enforcers.
Since being active in India, Amritpal Singh incited Sikh youths to engage in armed rebellion against democratically elected governments, citing discriminatory treatment as the reason, in order to achieve the ultimate goal of creating Khalistan.
Punjab Police had launched a crackdown on Amritpal Singh and members of his outfit Waris Punjab De on March 18, a month after his supporters stormed a police station in Ajnala.
In February, Amritpal Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into the Ajnala Police Station on the outskirts of Amritsar and clashed with police for the release of one of his aides.
His surrender comes days after his wife Kirandeep Kaur was stopped at the Amritsar airport while she was trying to board a flight to London.
