1991 Punjab killings


The 1991 Punjab killings was a massacre of train passengers that occurred on 15 June 1991 in the Ludhiana district of the Indian State of Punjab, where Sikh militants killed at least 80 to 126 passengers travelling in two trains.

Events

The militants stopped the two trains about a kilometre from Ludhiana station by pulling their emergency cords, triggering emergency brakes. They proceeded to open fire inside the trains at around 9:35 p.m., killing at least 80 passengers. Survivors stated that on one of the two trains, Hindu passengers were singled-out to be shot. Attackers on this train apparently went through the train identifying Hindus and then went back to kill them, while sparing Sikhs.
On the second train, the Dhuri-Hisar passenger train, the militants fired indiscriminately. After the attackers fled, the train moved back to Badduwal station, where the rescue team arrived with doctors. Local villagers helped the survivors with food, water, medicine, and mental support.
The attacks came less than five hours after polling closed in a national election already marred by violence and interrupted by the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi around a month prior.
Later that year, in December 1991, militants killed 49 more passengers, mostly Hindus, travelling on train from Ludhiana to Ferozepur.