CHANDIGARH, India: A dozen gunmen freed from custody Harjinder Singh Jinda who has been allegedly involved in directing the massacre of 14 bus passengers last year, police said

Police told Reuters that the gunmen, armed with automatic weapons, intercepted a heavy police guard transporting Harjinder Singh Jinda to a jail in Northwestern Punjab, The gunmen forced the police to release the suspect, they said.

Jinda had been arrested about six months ago and charged as a prime suspect in the massacre of the bus passengers on an isolated rural Punjab road near Muktsar last July.

Meanwhile, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said police killed an unidentified Sikh freedom fighter during an encounter in Faridkot district.

The dead man was the 83rd person to die in police related violence set off to finish Sikhs seeking an independent Sikh homeland.

Article extracted from this publication >>  April 3, 1987