CHANDIGARH, India, Jan. 15, Reuter: Unidentified gunmen killed a family of eight and a policeman and his wife in two attacks in the north Indian state of Punjab on Friday, police said.
The killings bring the death toll from violence this month to 50 in the State where militants are fighting for an independent Sikh homeland.
Gunmen with automatic rifles shot dead a Sikh peasant family of three men, three women and two children near Batala. Police would not give a motive for the killings.
In the past gunmen have killed entire families of people they suspected of being police informers.
Gunmen shot dead Police Inspector Prem Nath and his wife near the Sikh holy city of Amritsar. Nath was transferred to Amritsar from Chandigarh, Punjab’s capital, only 10 days ago.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 22, 1988
