India Prison Official Slain by Sikhs
CHANDIGARH, India — Sikh terrorists assassinated the top prison administrator of Punjab state near his home in Chandigarh on Saturday and then escaped on a motor scooter, police said.
Trilok Chand Katoch, 57, inspector general of prisons, was the highest-ranking police official to be killed since Sikh extremists launched a terrorist campaign in 1980. He was due to retire in September.
Police said that Katoch was returning to his home from a market when two Sikh gunmen accosted him. He tried to flee but was hit by three bullets and died on the spot, police said.
Hours after the assassination of Katoch, a Hindu, underground rebels ambushed a paramilitary police patrol and killed one trooper near the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, state police said. Four soldiers were wounded.
The attacks came a day after militants killed 10 Sikhs, including three women, in three raids on homes of moderates. Extremists have killed 26 people in hit-and-run attacks since Jan. 1.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said Saturday that the Punjab government must take sterner action against terrorists.
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