CHANDIGARH:
Police Chief K.P.S. Gill disclosed in a press conference that police has killed six persons, and has claimed to take the six people in the police custody, at different places during the past 24 hours.
Two freedom fighters were killed in an encounter near Faridkot and arrested four persons on suspicion for harboring them.
In second incident two freedom fighters were killed in an alleged encounter near village Mahasham district Tarn Taran. The names of killed are not disclosed. The encounter lasted some hours. Another freedom fighter near village Majitha was killed in another staged encounter.
In another incident freedom fighters killed two police touts and escaped,
The militants entered the house of Mr. Amrik Singh at Rampura Terra village in Majitha police district (Amritsar) and opened fire, killed him and his four sons — Lakhbir Singh, Jassa Singh, Massa Singh, and Karnail Singh. However, woman members of the family were spared.
The Majitha police district Chief, Mr. G.S. Mann, said that six members of the Major Singh Khatriwal gang of the “Bhindranwala Tiger Force of Khalistan”, raided farm house of Amrik Singh. They Amrik Singh and his four sons in line before spraying them with bullets.
Nine persons from the area had rounded up for questioning while security forces had launched a manhunt for the killers.
Mr. Mann said preliminary investigations revealed that militants had killed these persons as they reportedly helped plough the fields of a deceased special police officer who was shot dead by this gang earlier. Mr. Mann claimed there were reports that Khatriwal had been operating in this area in the guise of CRPF official.
The same gang kidnapped Mr. Hazzara Singh from adjoining Dhupp Sarri village and shot him dead. In another incident militants dragged Mr. Bhagwant Singh out of his house at village Muse in Tarn Taran police district and shot him dead Gurdial Singh and Raju, were arrested in Jalandhar and Ludhiana district last night. Two pistols were seized from them.
The police recovered a bullet ridden body of a youth from fields near Matipur village in Tarn Taran police district today, the police said.
Earlier three members of a family and two militants were among the eleven persons gunned down in Punjab.
In an encounter security forces shot dead, a freedom fighter is identified as Balwinder Singh near Saharom village in Ropar district.
In another encounter security forces shot dead an unidentified at a farm house in Sarhali village under Majitha police station in Amritsar district.
In Fathupilla village under Majitha police station. Militants shot dead Baljinder Singh and his mother and sister.
In Ludhiana police arrested Karnail Singh and recovered 12 bole pistol and in Farid kot police arrested Jarnail Singh Bhola Singh and Balwinder Singh. The Majitha police have arrested 12 persons said to be members of KCF and Babbar Khalsa.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 10, 1989
