A total of 122 Twitter accounts were ‘withheld’ at the request of the Indian government amid a crackdown on pro-Khalistan outfit Waris Punjab De and its chief Amritpal Singh in Punjab, The Quint reported.
The report says that the government requested Twitter to take action against these accounts on Sunday, 19 March, according to the tech company’s disclosure to the Lumen Database. Several tweets were also flagged by the government on the same day.
Many of these accounts belong to journalists reporting the situation from the ground in Punjab, while others belong to Sikhs in the diaspora.
Pertinently, the Punjab Police are on the lookout for Amritpal Singh, after cases of alleged hate speech were filed against him and his supporters last week.
Amritpal had led a massive protest against the Punjab Police a few weeks ago after the detention of his key aide Lovepreet Singh. His supporters had allegedly broken through barricades and barged into the Ajnala Police Station. Lovepreet was later released citing lack of evidence, states the report.
Since Sunday, over 112 people have been arrested by the police.
As part of the state-wide crackdown on Waris Punjab De, internet and SMS services were shut down in Punjab. While it has reportedly been lifted in some areas, the blackout continues in others parts of the state, according to SFLC’s internet shutdown tracker.