CHANDIGARH, India— Gun men killed three people in northern Punjab state Friday despite patrols by thousands of parameter troops called out to prevent statewide traffic blockades threatened by Sikh radicals.

About 1,500 paramilitary troop reinforcements were sent to Pun jab for the one-day “rasta roko Punjabi for “road block” called by Sikh militants in defiance of the state’s moderate Sikh led government.

Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary troops armed with batons, rifles and submachine guns were deployed at major highway intersections throughout the state

But Punjab Chief Minister Suyit Singh Barnala said the protest failed to rally public support and traffic was not affected. More than 300 Sikh students trying to enforce the blockade were arrested and 250 were detained before the protest began,

The All India Sikh Students Federation organized the blockade, demanding the release of jailed Sikh youths and rehabilitation of Sikh soldiers who deserted after a June 1984 army attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest shrine of their religion.

In violence possibly related to the protest, four suspected Sikh gunmen burst in to a Sikh shrine in the town of Sultanpur Lodhi, about 200, miles northwest of New Delhi, and killed a man denouncing the “rasta roko” in a speech,

Police chased the assailants, killing one of them in an exchange of gunfire and capturing the other three, the Press Trust of India said,

In Ludhiana district, two persons opened fire on a police patrol, killing one constable and injuring another, police said.

In Gurdespur district, three persons shot at a policeman but fled without injuring him, the Press Trust reported.

Barnala said few roads were successfully blocked, and many barricades were removed before dawn by police and youth workers of his ruling Sikh party, the Akali Dal.

In Jalandhar district, however, Police were forced to fire tear gas to disperse about 80 sword wielding Sikh youths stopping traffic and deflating tires.

On a road near Amritsar, Sikhs set fire to a truck carrying more than 300 cooking-gas cylinders, triggering a series. of explosions heard more than 5 miles away. No injuries were reported.

Article extracted from this publication >> January 17, 1986