Punjab killings

Press, 21 May 1987, Page 10

Punjab killings

NZPA-Reuter Chandigarh A police inspector was shot dead in a market square in Punjab yesterday, bringing to 20 the number of people killed since direct rule from New Delhi was imposed on the state nine days ago.

The police told Reuters that Sub-inspector Roshan Lal, a Hindu, was shot at close range by Sikh extremists mounted on motor scooters and died instantly. Police said the inspector had been engaged in counterespionage. The police said they had arrested three men shortly afterwards, but it was not certain that these were the killers.

Despite the presence of some 70,000 police and paramilitary forces, Punjab has seen little slackening of a tide of violence by separatists since New Delhi dismissed the state government and imposed President’s rule on May 11.

Police sources told Reuters the only difference was that the extremists, fighting for an independent Sikh homeland, now appeared to be selecting specific targets like politicians, policemen and journalists, rather than spreading an indiscriminate reign of terror through the state. Earlier, police said, a journalist working for a group of newspapers whose staff are a target to Sikh extremists was shot dead.

He is the fourth journalist associated with the group to be killed in the north Indian state. The murder came a day after Punjab Governor Siddhartha Shankar Ray said in Chandigarh, the state capital, that his administration would free innocent Sikhs detained during a major crackdown which began last week.