India arrests nearly 80 in manhunt for Sikh separatist

A MANHUNT for a radical Sikh preacher in India entered its second day today after authorities shut mobile internet in the whole of Punjab state and arrested 78 of his supporters.

Amritpal Singh rose to prominence in recent months demanding the creation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, and with his hard-line interpretation of Sikhism at rallies in rural pockets of the northern state of some 30 million people.