AMRITSAR, Punjab, India: March 29, Reuter: Gunmen burst into a north Indian village house and massacred 10 members of a Sikh family including children and a pregnant woman, police said.
Five gunmen sprayed automatic fire at the family as they ate together in Kaura Vidhaun village, 67 km South West of the Sikh holy city Amritsar, on Monday night, Amritsar police said.
First reports from police said the gunmen had attacked a marriage party and killed the groom. They said later the murdered family was celebrating the visit of a newlywed relative.
The attacks have risen despite the release this month of Sikh high priests and dozens of other Sikhs detained without trial after the Indian army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Sikhs’ holiest shrine, in 1984.
At another village four gunmen killed three members of a family and two other people lost their lives in scattered incidents on Monday night, the Press Trust of India said.
Gunmen killed a family of five Hindus at a village on Sunday night and last week hijacked a bus leaving Amritsar and killed five passengers.
Militant sources blame the murders on criminals hired by the Punjab Police Chief. Sikh families are being killed by them to antagonize the people against the freedom fighters, they said. All Sikh militant organizations have appealed against the killing of innocent men, women, and children.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 1, 1988
