DEHRA DUN: Two consecutive raids by suspected Punjab militants on two police posts for two days this week has proved that the militants have finally arrived in this city.
In Tuesday night’s incident five policemen and a tea stall owner were seriously injured in a heavy exchange of fire following an attack by militants on a police post at Ghanta Ghar (clock tower) in the heart of the city.
Last Monday too militants made a vain bid to attack a police station at Patel Nagar and kill some policeman. In both the incidents however the militants opened fire and managed to escape after a brief encounter despite being handcuffed by the police
The sudden spurt in militant activity in the city can be attributed to the gunning down of a self-styled “area commander” of the Khalistan Liberation Force” Satnam Singh Satta here recently. According to a report after the death of Satta some 19 hard-core militants held a meeting at a village in the district and took an oath to avenge his death.
Until recently the militant’s activity in the region was confined to the Doiwala Bhaniawala and Raiwala areas of the district. They reportedly came to the city only for extortion. Now it seems they have decided to unleash a reign of terror in the city too.
Past records show that the militants had struck two years ago killing some policemen but those incidents were viewed as freak ones and not systematic. This time however they seem to have organized themselves well. And despite repeated statements by the police that all possible routes and corridors of the district bordering Himachal Pradesh had been sealed and tight security arrangements made forestall any possibility of violence the militants not only entered the city but also attacked the police. The director-general of the state police Prakash Singh and the inspector-general of Police Meeruizone Ashok Sharan who were in the city last week had emphatically observed at the time.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 24, 1992
