Since Saturday, police in Punjab, India, has been searching for a Sikh separatist leader who has been on the run.
More than a hundred of Amritpal Singh’s supporters have been detained and mobile internet has been shut down statewide.
However, despite numerous roadblocks and a dramatic live-streamed vehicle chase, the location of the self-styled preacher remains unknown.
His proposals for a separate homeland for Sikhs have revived memories of a 1980s uprising in which tens of thousands of people perished.
Amritpal Singh asserts that he is influenced by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a preacher accused by the Indian government of conducting an armed insurgency in the 1980s for a separate Sikh homeland, Khalistan. In 1984, Bhindranwale was slain during the controversial Operation Blue Star conducted by the Indian army.
People brandishing “Khalistan” banners demonstrated on Sunday in front of the Indian High Commission in London. Videos depicted a man removing the Indian flag from the building’s balcony. Indian officials summoned the British deputy high commissioner in protest in Delhi.
As the search for Amritpal Singh continued, Indian authorities extended the ban on mobile internet in Punjab on Monday.
Punjab’s Inspector General of Police Sukhchain Singh Gill announced at a news conference that five of the 30-year-old preacher’s associates had been apprehended and charged under India’s strict National Security Act.
Also he said several separatist weapons and cars had been found, including Amritpal Singh’s Mercedes from Saturday’s escape.
After Mr. Singh’s followers attacked a police station weeks earlier, the police cracked down.
Saturday, police proclaimed Mr. Singh a “fugitive” and began a statewide manhunt for him. To inspect vehicles, roadblocks were set up across the entire state.
According to local media, Mr. Singh fled the police in a cavalcade near the Shahkot-Mehatpur region of the Jalandhar district.
Some of his associates live-streamed the pursuit through villages, according to the Times of India, and they also uploaded videos to social media urging supporters to congregate near Jalandhar.
One video showed the preacher’s convoy stopped at a checkpoint near Jalandhar and pursued by several police vehicles.
Mr. Singh’s uncle Harjit Singh, who was part of the convoy and turned himself into the police on Sunday evening, told the Indian Express newspaper that his nephew was in the vehicle with him so they traveled to the Moga district in Punjab.
According to him, they were informed of a “massive deployment of armed forces.” So they altered their route and Mr. Singh changed cars.
Sunday, a senior police officer told ANI that the cleric escaped after being pursued 20 to 25 kilometers. (12 to 15 miles).
The police marched through the streets in multiple areas of Punjab to “instill confidence in the public” and urge them to uphold law and order in the state.
