4 members of outfit headed by Amritpal Singh flown to Dibrugarh after arrest in Punjab

Four members of an outfit headed by Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh, who were arrested in Punjab, have been brought to Assam's Dibrugarh on Sunday, police said. They were flown in a special flight, they said.

"The four are currently kept in Dibrugarh central jail," a police officer said, without elaborating further. The Dibrugarh Police is likely to address the media later in the day.

The Punjab government had on Saturday launched a major crackdown against Singh, a radical Sikh preacher and Khalistan sympathiser, with the police arresting 78 members of the outfit headed by him, officials said.

The elusive preacher, however, gave the police a slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Jalandhar district, even as authorities stepped up security at several places in the northern state.

Police had said it had launched a "massive statewide cordon and search operations (CASO)" against elements of the 'Waris Punjab De' (WPD), headed by Amritpal, against whom several criminal cases had been registered. The police action also comes ahead of the start of Amritpal's 'Khalsa Wahir' - a religious procession - from Muktsar district.

During the statewide operation, nine weapons, including one .315 bore rifle, seven rifles of 12 bore, one revolver and 373 live cartridges of different caliber have been recovered so far, police said. Security has been tightened at many places in Punjab with security forces conducting vehicle checking.

The police spokesperson had informed that the WPD elements were involved in four criminal cases relating to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in lawful discharge of duties of public servants. An FIR dated February 24 stands registered against WPD elements for the attack on Ajnala Police Station.

Last month, Amritpal and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into the Ajnala Police Station on the outskirts of the Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of one of Amritpal's aide.

After the incident, in which six policemen, including a superintendent of police rank officer, had suffered injuries, the AAP government in the state had faced severe flak and was accused of kowtowing to extremists.

Dubai-returned Amritpal was last year anointed the head of 'Waris Punjab De', which was founded by actor and activist Deep Sidhu who died in a road accident in February last year.