NEW DELHI, India, March 2nd, Reuter: The North Indian State of Punjab suffered its worst day of carnage in three months yesterday when 15 people died in a series of clashes and killings, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said today.
The toll was the highest for a day since last November 30th when unidentified gunmen hijacked a bus and killed 24 passengers, sparking anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and other parts of northern India.
The latest bloodshed brought the number of violence related deaths in Punjab this year to 129, according to unofficial counts.
It occurred amid a political and religious crisis in Punjab that is dividing India’s 14 million Sikhs.
and threatening the survival of the minority state government of the Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala.
In the bloodiest incident, five people, including “a paramilitary Police Inspector, were killed and 10 wounded in 40minute gun battle after a police jeep was attacked outside a Sikh shrine near Amritsar.
Police later stormed the shrine and made a number of arrests, PTI said.
In other incidents yesterday, four people were shot by assailants as they watched television in their village home; two teenage brothers were hacked to death. One man was stabbed and security forces killed three freedom fighters.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 6, 1987
