India police hunt Sikh leader, arrest separatist supporters

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and KRUTIKA PATHI
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police are searching for a Sikh separatist leader who has revived calls for an independent homeland, stirring fears of violence in northwestern Punjab state. Police accuse Amritpal Singh and his aides of creating discord in the state, which is still haunted by the memories of a 1980s insurgency for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan. The separatist movement prompted a military crackdown that killed thousands, according to official estimates. Singh’s speeches have become increasingly popular among supporters of the movement, which is banned in India as a national security threat. Police meanwhile removed temporary security barricades outside the British High Commission in New Delhi, apparently after Sikh separatists pulled down the Indian flag from its London mission.