New Delhi: Radical preacher and pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh's uncle and driver have surrendered before the police in Jalandhar, a senior cop said on Monday (March 20, 2023).


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Amritpal's uncle Harjit Singh and driver Harpreet Singh surrendered near a gurdwara in the Mehatpur area late Sunday night, Jalandhar Senior Superintendent of Police (Rural) Swarandeep Singh said.


The Khalistan sympathiser, however, was still on the run, he said.



The Punjab government on Saturday launched a major crackdown against Amritpal and his group 'Waris Punjab De', with the police arresting 78 members of the outfit on that day. The preacher, however, escaped their dragnet somehow after his cavalcade was intercepted in the Jalandhar district.


Police on Sunday conducted flag marches and searches across Punjab in their manhunt for radical preacher Amritpal Singh, arresting 34 more supporters and shifting four men in custody to jail in far-off Assam.




The crackdown against the 'Waris Punjab De' chief comes weeks after Amritpal and his supporters barged into the Ajnala police station near Amritsar, extracting an assurance that an arrested man would be released.


The pro-Khalistan leader and his supporters have been accused of spreading disharmony, attempt to murder, attacking police personnel, and obstructing public servants in the discharge of their duties. Six police personnel, including a superintendent of police, were injured in Ajnala.



Meanwhile, the Bhagwant Mann government on Sunday extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services in Punjab till Monday noon. 


The official order, which exempted banking services, said this was to "prevent any incitement to violence and any disturbance of peace and public order".