New Delhi: With ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh still on the run, all mobile internet, SMS, and dongle services will remain suspended in Punjab till March 20 (12:00 hours), officia said on Sunday. An official statement from the Bhagwant Mann-led government said that mobile internet services remain suspended in Punjab in the “interest of public safety”.

“All mobile internet services, all SMS services (except banking and mobile recharge) and all dongle services provided on mobile networks, except the voice call, in the territorial jurisdiction of Punjab suspended till March 20 (12:00 hours) in the interest of public safety,” the Deparmentt of Home Affairs & Justice, Government of Punjab, said.

A manhunt is currently on to nab radical Sikh preacher and Khalistan sympathizer Amritpal Singh.

“He is now a fugitive and we are looking for him and we will soon arrest him,” Jalandhar Police Commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal told reporters near Nakodar in Jalandhar late Saturday night.

Chahal said six to seven gunmen of Amritpal Singh have been arrested.

Punjab has launched a major crackdown against Amritpal Singh

The Punjab government had on Saturday launched a major crackdown against Amritpal Singh and arrested 78 members of an outfit — Waris Punjab De — headed by him.

The elusive preacher himself, however, gave the police a slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in the Jalandhar district.

As the operation went underway, authorities stepped up security at several places and suspended internet and SMS services in the state till Sunday noon.

During their state-wide operation, police also seized one .315 bore rifle, seven 12 bore rifles, one revolver, and 373 live cartridges of a different caliber.

78 arrested after mega crackdown against Waris Punjab de#AmritpalSingh fugitive, Police teams are on manhunt

Nine weapons including 8 rifles, one revolver recovered during operation

Situation is under control, citizens requested to not to believe in rumours
— Punjab Police India (@PunjabPoliceInd) March 18, 2023

Security has been tightened at many places in Punjab with intensive vehicle checking.

Earlier last month, 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 the Amritsar city, clashing with police for the release of one of Amritpal’s aides.

After the incident, in which six policemen including a Superintendent of Police rank officer had suffered injuries, the Mann-led government in the state had faced severe flak and was accused of kowtowing to extremists.

Dubai-returned Amritpal Singh was last year anointed the head of ‘Waris Punjab De’, which was founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu who died in a road accident in February last year.