After a month-long manhunt, India detains Amritpal Singh, the Sikh separatist leader.
Indian police arrested a Sikh separatist named Amritpal Singh after a month-long manhunt, which led to protests and vandalism among the British, Canadian, and American diaspora.
Singh became famous in Punjab, calling for a separate Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, which caused deadly violence in India in the 1980s and 1990s.
He was arrested at around 6:45 am (0115 GMT) in a Gurdwara (Sikh temple), which was surrounded by authority personnel.
Singh, who is 30 years old, styles himself on Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a figurehead of the Khalistan movement, who was killed when the Indian army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a major Sikh site, in 1984.
Singh and his supporters, armed with swords, knives and guns, raided a police station in February after one of the preacher’s aides was arrested for assault and attempted kidnapping. In mid-March, authorities tried to arrest Singh, but he dramatically escaped, reportedly on a motorbike after changing clothes at a Gurdwara.
The operation sparked protests by Sikhs outside Indian consulates in Britain, Canada, and the United States.
Demonstrators smashed windows in San Francisco, took down an Indian flag at the Indian High Commission in London and reportedly vandalized a Gandhi statue in Ontario.
India summoned top US, British and Canadian diplomats to complain and press for improved security at Indian missions in their countries.
Punjab was rocked by a violent separatist movement for Khalistan in the 1980s and early 1990s which led to thousands of people dying.
Critics accused India’s then-ruling Congress of turning a blind eye to the killings, with some figures from the party allegedly playing an active role in the violence. The separatist movement later lost support.
