Advertisement
Punjab: Amid the high-voltage drama of radical preacher Amritpal Singh’s manhunt in Punjab, The state Government on March 21 extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services in Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur and Amritsar’s Ajnala sub-division and a few areas in Mohali till Thursday noon.
In a statement, Punjab Government said, “All mobile internet services, all SMS services (except banking & mobile recharge), and all dongle services provided on mobile networks, except the voice call, shall continue to remain suspended in the districts Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur, Sub-Division Ainala in Amritsar, areas adjoining YPS chowk and Airport Road both in SAS Nagar, till March 23 (12:00 hours) in the interest of public safety.”
“It is made clear that mobile internet services in all the remaining areas of state should start functioning normally from 12 noon today,” it added. The Punjab government extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services till Tuesday noon even as the hunt for the Khalistan sympathizer Amritpal Singh continued for the third day.
The mobile internet services and SMS services were suspended in the state since Saturday after the Punjab Police launched a “massive state-wide cordon and search operations (CASO)” in the state against elements of the ‘Waris Punjab De’. The broadband services are not being suspended so that banking facilities, hospital services and other essential services are not disrupted, said the order issued by the additional chief secretary of the home department.
So far, six FIRs have been registered and 114 people arrested in the crackdown against elements of Amritpal Singh’s Waris Punjab De outfit, headed by Amritpal. The Punjab government had on Saturday launched a major crackdown against Amritpal, with police arresting 78 members of an outfit headed by him, officials said. Security has been beefed up in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
Police are on their feet to nab the Khalistan preacher as he has been avoiding arrests for more than 24 hours.Police on Saturday launched a “massive state-wide cordon and search operations (CASO)” in the state against the members of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ group, headed by Singh, against whom several criminal cases have been registered.
