DIBRUGARH: Sikh separatist leader and preacher Amritpal Singh who was arrested on Sunday has been transferred to a jail in northeastern Indian state Assam under high security, according to media reports.
Singh was taken into custody on Sunday from the Rode village in Punjab’s Moga district, “on the basis of specific intelligence”.
The Hindu quoted an unnamed government official as saying that the state’s government decided to move Singh to Assam, more than 2,600 km away from Punjab, on the directions of the Centre.
The official said the decision was taken to avoid any kind of jailbreak or protests if Singh was kept in any prison in Punjab or Haryana.
Singh has been charged under the National Security Act, which allows for those deemed a threat to national security to be detained without charge for up to a year, according to the official.
The arrest of the 30-year-old self-styled preacher – who leads a group called Waris Punjab De (the heirs of Punjab) – came after hundreds of his supporters stormed a police station with firearms and swords, demanding the release of one of his aides.
Indian police initiated a manhunt in March to arrest the prominent Sikh leader, launching statewide “cordon-and-search operations” against Waris Punjab De.
While searching for the pro-Khalistan leader, Punjab Police claimed arresting hundreds of his supporters as well as seizing ammunition and guns.
Movement for Sikh’s independence
Singh’s rise in the Indian Punjab, where Sikhs are in the majority, has reignited talk of an independent Sikh homeland and prompted fears of a return to violence that claimed tens of thousands of lives in the 1980s and early 1990s during a Sikh insurgency.
