In a significant development, the Punjab Police detained Amritpal Singh, the leader of Waris Punjab De and a supporter of Khailstan, on Saturday. The Khalistan supporter was the target of a police operation. Incidentally, Singh was detained a day after the G-20 Conference in Amritsar ended.

The “Waris Punjab De” chief was able to escape as police surrounded his home. However, he was apprehended close to the Nakodar region of Jalandhar. Singh along with his companions entered the Bulandpuri Sahib Gurdwara on Malsiya Road in Jalandhar after escaping from his home. About a month after his supporters besieged the police station in Amritsar’s Ajnala, the Waris Punjab De head was taken into custody.

Internet suspended in the whole of Punjab

An order from Punjab’s Department of Home Affairs and Justice stated that “all mobile internet services, all SMS services (aside from banking and mobile recharge), and all dongle services provided on mobile networks, aside from voice calls, shall be suspended from March 18 (12:00) to March 19 (12:00) in the interest of public safety.”

Why was he arrested?

The Ajnala police station near Amritsar was besieged on February 24 by an armed crowd led by the radical Sikh preacher after they engaged in combat with police. One of their colleagues who had been detained in connection with an alleged kidnapping case was to be released, they urged. The brutal altercation injured six police officers.

Later, police officers explained that the reason they couldn’t manage the mob was that they were using a physical replica of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, also known as Bir in Punjabi, as a shield. Following 12 days of brutal fighting, Punjab Police decided to revoke nine of Amritpal Singh’s guards’ permits to possess weapons. The cops also requested information about his security personnel.