Village Chief Slain Amid Protests of Death Penalty for Gandhi Killers

Sikh extremists killed a village headman and tried to set fire to shops in Punjab state Monday on the first day of protests over a court’s affirmation of the death penalty for three Sikh assassins of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Officials in the state capital of Chandigarh, about 150 miles northwest of New Delhi, reported widespread response to a strike called by radical Sikh students and endorsed by underground separatist groups. The strike is to continue today.

The protests were called over a Dec. 3 decision by an appeals court to affirm death sentences for three Sikhs convicted in the Oct. 31, 1984, assassination of Gandhi, who was succeeded in office by her son, Rajiv.

500 Arrests Told

The Press Trust of India said officials began to arrest suspected Sikh militants Sunday as part of a campaign to prevent violence and had taken into custody about 500 people by Monday night.

But despite the arrests, some violence was reported Monday. Officials said two Sikh extremists rode into a village about 80 miles northeast of Chandigarh on a motor scooter, fatally shot the Sikh headman and fled.

There was no known motive for the attack, but public officials have increasingly become targets for Sikh extremists fighting to establish an independent nation called Khalistan in Punjab, the only state in India with a Sikh majority. Sikh extremists have killed more than 500 people, mostly Hindus, in Punjab this year to press their campaign.

Crowd Dispersed

In Batala, about 130 miles northwest of Chandigarh, Sikh militants attempted to set fire to some Hindu-owned shops, but security forces extinguished the flames before they did serious damage and dispersed the crowd, officials said.

Officials said that shops and businesses closed across the state Monday in honor of the strike, and protesters assembled in numerous areas to block roads and listen to speeches by strike organizers. Security forces were able to clear away most of the obstructions without interference, officials said.

Bus and rail services were suspended throughout Punjab on all but major trunk routes, where the few buses in operation were accompanied by security guards.