CHANDIGARH: Four paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force men were killed in a fierce encounter with freedom fighters hiding in the Darbar Sahib Sikh shrine in Tar Taran district of turbulent Punjab, official reports here said.
The freedom fighters, whose number was not known, later escaped with the weapons of the slain personnel.
Reports said the encounter occurred when freedom fighters ambushed the CRPF personnel who were on duty outside the shrine.
A police report from Amritsar said the freedom fighter fired on the picket at about 1800 hrs. (local time) using AK-47 Chinese assault rifles.
The freedom fighters then picked up the wireless set, a light machine gun and three self-loading rifles belonging to the personnel and took them inside the shrine.
A heavy exchange of fire with security forces followed when initial reinforments encircled the shrine, the report added.
More than 1000 persons have been killed in Punjab this year alone in violence arising from the Sikh separatists’ demand for Khalistan (land of the pure).
Article extracted from this publication >> January 5, 1990
