CHANDIGARH, Nov. 15, Reuter, India: Police killed three Sikhs in a gunfight and a local leader of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress (I) party ‘was shot dead in Punjab today, police said.
In another development, security agents arrested a passport officer in the state capital Chandigarh on suspicion of providing passports under false names.
Police said they surprised suspected members of the Khalistan Commando Force and killed three in a 30 minute gunfight near Batala. There were no police casualties.
PTI said two men seized a pistol from 50yearold Sampuran Sigh, Congress Leader and headman of Talwandi Bhai village near Ferozpur, and shot him dead.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) said SS. Khalon, Assistant Regional passport officer for Punjab and two neighbouring states, and three employees were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and taken to New Delhi for interrogation.
PTI the arrests were made after files on the issue of passports to four suspects went missing. Large amounts of rupees, dollars and gold were found at Kahlon home.
The killing brought to 22 the death toll in Punjab this month over the campaign for an independent Sikh state. Some 531 people have been killed in the state this year.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 21, 1986
