CHANDIGARH,(PTI): Twenty five people, including eight members of a community, were killed in indiscriminate firing by gunmen in the strife-tom northern Indian state of Punjab’s Qila Raipur village in Ludhiana district June 26, police said.
Elsewhere in Punjab, five militants were among six people killed in separate incidents recently.
According to police, five armed militants went to the market of Gurdwara Ranga Patti in Qila Raipur village and opened indiscriminate fire in which nine people. were killed on the spot.
The victims were identified as Ravi Kumar, Raj Kumar, Dharam Pal, Surinder, Harpal Singh, Surinder Pal, Raj Kumar, Gulshan Kumar and Chaman Lal.
Three unidentified militants were killed in an hour long encounter with security forces near Pandori village in Kapurthala district.
Balbir Singh, salesman of a liquor vend, was killed and three persons were injured when gunmen fired at a jeep of a wine contractor near Akbarpur village in Sangrur district.
An unidentified militant was killed in an encounter with police near Rajgarh village in Bathinda district.
Suspicious villagers shot dead a suspected militants near Siad Kalan village in Batala police district, his accomplice however escaped.
Gunmen shot dead Tripta Malhotra, principal of the Nursingh Hostel, in Patiala, and looted a jewelry shop worth seycral lakhs of rupees in Patiala, police said.
Four militants of the Khalistan Commando Force were killed in an encounter with security forces in Sangrur district. One of the victim was identified as Gurtej Singh, ex-constable of Punjab police.
In another encounter, two militants were killed in Amritsar district, one of them was identified as from the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).
Three militants were nabbed after a brief encounter from Barnala police district while one Harbhajan Singh was arrested from Ludhiana city.
Three unidentified militants were killed in an hour Jong encounter with security forces in Kapurthala district. One Balbir Singh, was killed and three persons injured when gunmen fired at a jeep in Sangrur district,
An unidentified militant was killed in an encounter with police in Bathinda district, while suspicious villagers shot dead a suspected militants in Batala police district,
The deputy inspector general, Ludhiana Range, told PTI, Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) and Khalistan Liberation — Force (KLF) militants were responsible for the massacre.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 10, 1994
