CHANDIGARH India: Dec, 14, Reuter: Gunmen in tracksuits killed two senior policemen out jogging on Monday in the worst attack on high-ranking officers in Punjab for five years, police said.
Three gunmen fired automatic weapons at a district Police Chief and a Superintendent as they jogged in Patiala; their security guard was also killed.
The victims were the highest-ranking officers killed in the North Indian State since 1982.
Patiala district Police Chief Arvinder Singh Brar and Superintendent Kanwar Ranbir Singh Gill were jogging at a sports complex in the grounds of a former Mahatajah’s palace when the gunmen disgusted as runners opened fire.
Brar was the most senior officer killed in Punjab since gunmen shot Deputy Inspector General AS. ‘Atwal outside Amritsar’s Golden ‘Temple in 1982.
Nearly 1,150 people have been killed this year in Punjab where Sikhs are fighting for an independent Sikh state.
A senior officer in the State capital, Chandigarh, said intelligence reports showed militants planned to step up attacks on police in an attempt to demoralize the force. Eighty-one policemen have been killed in Punjab this year.
Brar was formerly the personal security officer of Punjab Police Chief Julius Ribeiro who escaped an assassination attempt by gunmen in August last year.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 18, 1987
