Sikhs Kill 16 Passengers on Punjab Bus

Sikh extremists, in their bloodiest attack ever in Punjab, singled out Hindu passengers on a state-owned bus today and shot them one by one, killing 16 and wounding four others, police reported.

A police official said the massacre occurred at about 6 a.m. near the town of Mukhtsar, about 140 miles west of Chandigarh, capital of the northern state of Punjab.

Four Sikh extremists riding a Punjab Roadways bus bound for Chandigarh ordered the driver at gunpoint to stop at the village of Sadiq, six miles from Mukhtsar.

The radicals told women and children to leave and then singled out Hindu passengers and forced them off the bus one at a time. The Sikhs, armed with pistols, shot each of the Hindus as they stepped off the bus, the official said.

13 Killed Instantly

At least 13 of the Hindus were killed instantly, the police official said. Seven were critically wounded and three succumbed to their injuries later in the morning.

The extremists directed the remaining passengers to get off the vehicle and then drove it away, the official said. He said the gunmen later abandoned the bus and fled north on foot and in a tractor.

The official said an indefinite curfew was imposed on Mukhtsar and security forces were placed on maximum alert across Punjab and neighboring states.

The attack was the bloodiest single act of violence staged in Punjab by Sikh extremists since they launched their campaign in 1981 to create the independent nation of Khalistan in the predominantly Sikh state.