ARMED BANDS FROM RIOT-TORN TUNJAR THREATEN KASHMIR

Wanganui Chronicle, 11 March 1947, Page 5

ARMED BANDS FROM RIOT-TORN TUNJAR THREATEN KASHMIR

STATE TROOrS MOVED TO PREVENT ENTRY Recd- 9 p.m. London, March 10. State troops were moved to Kash-mir-Punjab border to prevent the entry of armed bands from the riot-torn Punjab into Kashmir, says Reuter's Srinagar correspondent. All traffic on the Srinagar-Rawalpindi road has been suspended since March 8, following reports that three motor vehicles travelling to Rawalpindi were looted and burned and the passengers attacked.

Recd. 6 p.m. Lahore, MaVch 9British troops patrolling Amritsar had to fire seven times to enforce the curfew.

Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, and Jullunder had a quiet night, but today two Lahore shopkeepers were stabbed while they were opening their shops. It is officially announced that casualties in the Punjab disturbances from March 5 to last night total 192 killed r<id 580 injured, comprising: Multan. 90 killed. 115 injured: Lahore. 35 killed, 160 injured: Rawalpindi. 27 killed. 175 injured; Amritsar, 27 killed, 100 injured; Jullunder, 13 killed. 30 injured.

The “Daily Mail” correspondent at Amritsar reports that for a second time in 24 hours armed raiders attacked the Peshawar-Bombay express. Four hundred men, believed to be Moslems, boarded the train to-day at Chaklala and attacked Sikh passengers while the train was in motion. The raiders severely wounded seven Sikhs, two of whom, including a woman, died later. Armed guards are ndw to accompany all trains. Reuters’ Calcutta correspondent states that the police arrested Somnath Lahiri, the only Communist member of the Indian Constituent Assembly- It is stated that the arrest was connected with the Calcutta tramwaymen’s strike, which has now been in progress for seven weeks.