CHANDIGARH: Gunmen mounted attack on factory workers killing 23 persons in Ropar and Sangrur district on Wednesday night.

Elsewhere in Punjab a gunmen and a security man were among seven persons killed and another six including four policemen were injured

In a sudden spur of violence gunmen mowed down 10 persons and injured five others in a factory labour colony at Kupkalan in Sangrur district

Eight textile workers were shot dead and 22 injured some of them seriously when Punjab militants struck at Kharar about 20 km from here

Nineteen of the injured were admitted to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here.

The gunmen successfully carried out the strike in the residential colony of the government owned Kharar Textile Mill despite the intensified combing and patrolling by Patrolling by the security forces including the army in the area.

 The victims were mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and belonged to a particular community.

According to the Senior Super intendant of Police of Ropar Sanjiv Gupta “the gang of six or seven gunmen which was led by Zammit Zaila of the Khalistan Liberation Force was chased by the security forces for a few kilometers till Landru” Operations to catch them were on all late night.

Some of the injured at the PGI however said that the gunmen were 14 to 18 numbers while about half of them were police uniforms the others had blanket wrapped around them The SSP also said that “probably four” of the gunmen were police uniform

It was about 7:15 p.m. when the gunmen arrived.

The gunmen in police uniform spread in the colony which has a few hundred houses and is located behind the mill They entered houses asking the males to come out for an election meeting.

According to one of the survivors “they said” voton ki baat kami hai”. They were in police uniform so we did not suspect them”.

Children were asked to bring their “daddies” and reluctant males were persuaded. All were collected in an open space.

The Sikhs were asked to go away and so were the children. Then the firing from AK47s began. The SSP said the gunmen switched off the electricity supply to the colony before the attack. The firing continued for about five minutes. Some ay still on the ground and others ran helter skelter.

Kaushalya Devi whom curiosity brought out of the kitchen got a bullet in her thigh. Her husband was seriously injured.

One worker who was an eye witness said seven persons died on the spot. It took about 30 minutes before vehicles from the mill and the police arrived and the injured sent to the PGI.

However the S.S.P sad that their patrol party was nearby and the only time lost was because of the darkness . The deputy commissioner of Ropar Karan A Singh who visited: PGI along with the SSP said immediate aid saved a few lives.

Friends and relatives of the victims were woo shocked to talk.

The dead included Chaudhry Yadav Kedar Yadav Babbuti Ram Hazara Singh Amrit Lal Rajdev Singh Jaipal and Hari Shankar. A few of the injured were admitted in the Kharar civil hospital.

The injured at the PGI were Sohan Lal Bajrangi Prasad Harbhajan Singh Kaushlya Devi Arun Kumar Jha Satdev (Chauhan Jai Pal Sharma Ram Lal Ashwani Kumar Sita Ram Mishram Salig Ram Nakset Amar Singh Saget Ram Sila Prasad Rajinder and Jaswant Singh.

Gunmen gunned down one Surjit Kaur and Sher Singh at Dhilwan village in Barnala police district on Wednesday.

Security forces nabbed six gunmen and recovered arms and ammunition from them.

In encounter security forces shot dead an unidentified gunman near Bhasipur village in Tarn Taran police district on Tuesday night. A rifle and some rounds of ammunition was recovered from the slain gunmen.

Bullet riddled body of head constable Mukhtiar Singh was recovered near Meera Kot village in Amritsar district on Tuesday night.

Gunmen raided a liquor vend at Birk Deron village in Patiala district killing its employee Ram Singh on Tuesday night.

Gunmen went to the house of cone Swinder Singh Nihang at Bhullar village in Majitha police district and shot him dead on Wednesday morning.

Six persons including four policemen were injured in a bomb explosion at Moga town in Faridkot district on Wednesday morning. The bomb was planned in a tea stall adjacent to the city police station in the town. The injured were identified as Binder Singh Jagsar Singh Darshan Singh and Mohinder Singh all policemen tea stall owner Pyare Lal and Sanjay Kumar. In another incident gunmen shot and injured a woman Neena Rupa near Sanghol village in the same district on Tuesday night.

Police arrested four gunmen in Kapurthala district and two in Tam Taran police district. Five pistols a mouser and one Kilogram of explosive material were recovered from them.

Article extracted from this publication >> January 17, 1992