AMRITSAR, India Gunmen shot dead three Hindus Sunday on the outskirts of riot torn Batala, ‘while hundreds of Sikhs lifted a 5day old blockade of the industrial town in Punjab state, police said.
‘The shooting victims were traveling by car from Amritsar to Batala, about 25 miles northeast of the Sikhs” holy city, when a group ‘Of armed persons opened fire, killing two of the five occupants and injuring another, police said.
‘The gunmen drove away with the two unhurt passengers. The vehicle and the body of the fifth Hindu were later found on a village road near Batala.
It was not clear whether the attackers were among the 800 Sikhs who had been blockading roads leading into curfew bound Batala since March 19 to press for a judicial inquiry into Hindu Sikh violence that erupted in the town one week ago. The blockade was organized by the All India Sikh Student Federation, which urged Sikhs to disrupt life across Punjab.
‘The Sikhs agreed Sunday to lift the blockade that had virtually cut off essential supplies from reaching. the town, after authorities agreed to consider the demands, Most of the Sikhs returned to their homes, although some continued to obstruct roads leading to nearby villages.
Sikhs have been waging a campaign for a separate state within India, which has a Hindu majority.
The freedom fighters oppose the moderate Sikh government of Punjab state, where Sikhs predominate,
No violence was reported Sunday inside the predominantly Hindu town of40,000 people, prompting authorities to further relax a curfew imposed following the March 16 rioting, broke out after Hindus attacked the Sikhs. Three more towns of Punjab were placed under indefinite curfew last week to curb similar violence.
The recent Hindu Sikh rioting and a surge in violence in Punjab has caused concern in the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 28, 1986
