Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh surrenders before police after days on the run

Self-styled preacher manages to evade arrest for 34 days, twice by changing his appearance and switching vehicles

File image: Chief of a social organisation, Amritpal Singh (C) along with devotees takes part in a Sikh initiation rite ceremony (AFP/Getty)

Controversial Sikh separatist leader Amritpal Singh surrendered to the police in the northern Indian state of Punjab on Sunday after being on run from authorities for weeks.

Mr Singh and his supporters are facing charges relating to disrupting communal harmony, attempt to murder, and attack on police personnel.

He was declared a fugitive after he managed to evade custody for 34 days, twice by changing his appearance and switching vehicles.

However, on Saturday, he was arrested from Rode village in Moga town of Punjab, according to Indian media reports, marking an end to a weeks-long manhunt which saw eight of his aides already arrested.

Punjab Police confirmed the news of the arrest on Twitter and appealed for peace.

In an unverified video message reported by Indian media outlets, he claimed he was surrendering and would contest, what he claimed were false cases against him, in court.

Mr Singh is now being shifted to a prison in the eastern state of Assam where his aides are being held under the stringent National Security Act.

The 30-year-old self-styled preacher is the leader of an outfit called Waris Punjab De (inheritors of Punjab) and rose to prominence in recent years with his support for the Khalistan movement.

Khalistan is a proposed Sikh state that would comprise parts of present-day India and Pakistan. The movement for Khalistan was at its peak in the 1980s, and the demand for a separate state has largely waned in recent years.

The crackdown on his organisation began on 18 March after hundreds of his supporters stormed a police station, demanding the release of an arrested aide.

Mr Singh and his associates were booked under several criminal cases, with one key associate and mentor, Papalpreet Singh, allegedly having connections with Pakistan’s intelligence agency.

Since being on the run, he has been sighted in CCTV footage and photos with changed appearances at many places.

His rise in popularity in recent months riled Indian authorities as Mr Singh appeared to be emulating Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a militant and the leading figure of the Khalistan movement, who was killed after an extensive operation by Indian forces in 1984.

The Rode village where Mr Singh was arrested is the native village of Bhindranwale.