The Twitter account of BBC Punjabi news was withheld in India by authorities as the manhunt for Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh continued. Though the BBC has not issued any statements yet on the latest development, social media users took to Twitter to express their opinion.

Just a day earlier, Nepal put fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in the country, on its surveillance list after India requested not to allow him to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport or any other fake passport.

In the latest development, one person was arrested from Ludhiana's Khanna city, by the Punjab Police on Sunday for harbouring Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh's close associate Tajinder Singh Gill. The police said that the man, identified as Balwant Singh, had no direct connection with Amritpal Singh.

Last month, the Income Tax Department conducted a survey at the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai to investigate a charge of "deliberate non-compliance with Indian laws including transfer pricing rules and diversion of profits illegally".

Earlier in March, the Centre blocked at least six YouTube channels for allegedly promoting pro-Khalistan sentiments, news agency PTI quoted a senior official as saying.

Apurva Chandra, the secretary for information and broadcasting, claimed that during the last ten days, 6-8 foreign-operated YouTube channels had been disabled. He said that the Punjabi-language channels were attempting to stir up unrest in the border state.

The withheld accounts also include the Twitter accounts of Canada's New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh. The Twitter accounts of Canadian poet Rupi Kaur, the voluntary organisation United Sikhs, and Canada-based activist Gurdeep Singh Sahota have also been blocked.

Image courtesy: Zee News