List of bus killings during Punjab insurgency
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There were multiple incidents of killing of bus passengers during the Insurgency in Punjab, India. It was started by the state - in 1992, a bus carrying 32 Sikh prisoners was driven straight into the railway tracks, in which all 32 Sikhs onboard died. The following events were an armed campaign by the pro-Khalistan militants from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.[1] Major incidents included the Lalru massacre of 38 Hindu bus passengers on 6 July 1987, by the Khalistan Commando Force militants near Lalru, Punjab, India.;[2] and Fatehabad bus killings on 7 July 1987, in which 34 Hindus on two buses were killed.[3][2][4]
This is a list of bus passenger killings during the Insurgency in Punjab, India in the 1980s and 1990s (also includes rail passenger killings).
Incidents involving shootings by militants
| Date | Place | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| September-
5 October 1983 |
Dhilwan, Kapurthala district | Six Hindu passengers were shot dead by two pro-Khalistan Sikh militants,[5][6] who hijacked a bus going from Dhilwan to Jalandhar in Punjab, and opened fire on Hindu passengers.[7][8] This bus massacre triggered the President's rule in Punjab as by this time, more than 175 people had been killed in militancy-related violence.[9] |
| 18 Nov 1983 | Kapurthala district | Nine armed men killed four Hindu bus passengers in Kapurthala district, Punjab, which had earlier witnessed another bus massacre in October by Sikh militants, and in both cases, the hijacked bus was abandoned at Chitiwind village on the outskirts of Amritsar.[10] |
| 23 Feb 1984 | Punjab, India | 11 Hindus killed by Sikh militants, including incidents in trains and busses.[11] |
| 21 May 1984 | Moga | 4 Hindu travelers were killed, and 10 others were wounded near Moga, about 175 miles northwest of New Delhi after six Sikh gunmen hijacked a bus and fired at its Hindu occupants.[12] |
| 12 September 1984 | Batala | 8 bus passengers killed.[13][14] |
| 25 July 1986 | Mukatsar | 1986 Muktsar bus massacre: 15 bus Hindu passengers gunned down by suspected Sikh militants.[15] |
| 30 November 1986 | Khudda | 24 Hindu bus passengers gunned down.[16] |
| 6 July 1987 | Near Lalru | Khalistan Commando Force militants hijacked a Haryana Roadways bus and killed 38 Hindu bus passengers.[3] |
| 7 July 1987 | Near Fatehabad | Sikh militants kill 34 Hindu bus passengers from two Haryana Roadways buses near Fatehabad[3] |
| 27 December 1988, | Near Mand, Punjab | Sikh militants pulled 7 Hindu passengers off a bus and escorted the passengers into a jungle where they were shot. 5 were killed and 2 were left in critical condition.[17] |
| 15 June 1991 | Ludhiana district | 1991 Punjab killings; 110 passengers killed by Sikh militants.[18] |
Incidents involving mobs
Incidents involving bus bombings
Incidents involving Punjab Police
| Date | Place | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 11 September 1982 | Tarn Taran | 32 Sikh activists and two police guards were killed and 21 others injured when a speeding train slammed into a bus with the newly arrested Sikh political activists, who had courted arrest as part of Dharam Yudh Morcha.[22][23] Multiple Sikh leaders accused this of being a deliberate incident by the police to kill Sikhs who courted arrest.[24][25] |
| July 1992 | Uttar Pradesh | 10 Sikhs were pulled off of a bus by police and killed in fake encounters while heading to Gurdaspur from Hazur Sahib.[26][27] |