Amritpal Singh, a reputed leader of the Sikh separatist movement, has reportedly been apprehended by Indian police, ending a protracted months-long manhunt.
On the official Twitter account of Punjab Police India, the news was revealed in a tweet.
According to CNN’s Indian station News 18, Singh was detained in Moga, Punjab, in the northwest of India, but will be sent to a high-security jail in Assam in the country’s far east.
Singh is a leading ideologue within the Waris De Punjab group, an outlawed separatist movement that seeks to establish a sovereign state called Khalistan for followers of India’s minority Sikh religion.
Police have been searching for Singh since March 18, when he was accused of attempted murder, obstruction of law enforcement, and creating “disharmony” in society.
The manhunt has revived calls for an independent Sikh homeland in India’s Punjab state, stoked fears of violence, and revived painful memories of a bloody insurgency that killed thousands.
In March, while police searched for Singh, Indian authorities blocked internet access for about 27 million people in the state of Punjab, one of the country’s most extensive blackouts in recent years.