11 Shot Dead in Raids by Sikhs in New Delhi

Sikh separatists armed with submachine guns opened fire indiscriminately at four places in New Delhi late Saturday night, killing 11 people and wounding 21, police said.

Authorities said an undetermined number of Sikh extremists, operating in two teams, carried out the attacks in fashionable neighborhoods in the southern part of New Delhi.

The gunmen escaped after the shootings and police issued an alert throughout the capital, setting up roadblocks and tightening security at airports, railway stations and bus depots.

The attacks were among the worst since at least 75 people died in a wave of bombings, blamed on Sikh extremists, swept northern India in May, 1985.

Sikhs, who make up less than 2% of the population in predominantly Hindu India, are in the majority in Punjab, and Sikh extremists have been conducting a campaign to make the northern state an independent homeland.

Last month, the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi increased pressure on the extremists by dismissing the Punjab government and imposing direct rule from New Delhi, sharply increasing the number of security forces in the state.