AMRITSAR, India -- Sikh militants burst into a home and killed six members of a Sikh family including a man they believed helped police find one of Punjab state's most wanted religious extremists, officials said Tuesday.
Officials said the attack occurred Monday night in the village of Bal Khurb, about 20 miles northwest of Amritsar, site of the Golden Temple, the Sikh religion's most holy shrine.
Officials said four Sikhs carrying submachine guns and revolvers forced their way into the home of Hazara Singh, where he and five members of his family were watching television.
The gunmen killed Singh, his sons, Virsa Singh and Jagjit Singh, and Jagjit's wife and two of his children, ages 15 and three, officials said. A third child was wounded.
Officials said the gunmen left a note claiming responsibility for the murders on behalf of the 'Khalistan Commando Force,' one of the main Sikh extremist groups fighting to create an independent nation of 'Khalistan' in Punjab.
Sikhs have a bare majority of the population in Punjab state, while they are a minority in the rest of India where Hindus predominate.
The gunmen revealed in the note that they believed Jagjit Singh helped police capture two Sikh extremists, Tarsem Singh Kohar and Sukhdev Singh, Aug. 12.
Kohar assumed command of the 'Khalistan Commando Force' after its leader, Manbir Singh Chereu, was arrested by security forces Aug. 9. Chereu was the most wanted man on the list of criminals sought by the state police.
Officials said the note warned that if three Sikhs convicted and sentenced to death for the Oct. 31, 1984, assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were hanged, 'there will be a bloodbath of Hindus.'
Gandhi was gunned down by two Sikh security guards in revenge for sending troops into the Golden Temple in June 1984 to flush out extremists who controlled the shrine.
One of her attackers was shot and killed, and the surviving gunman, Satwant Singh, was found guilty of murder Jan. 22. His co-defendants, Balbir Singh and Kehar Singh, were convicted of plotting and encouraging the assassination.
