NEW DELHI, India -- A deadline set by the kidnappers of Romanian diplomat Liviu Radu passed Saturday with no apparent action by the Indian government to free three imprisoned Sikh militants wanted in exchange for the official's release.
The four Sikh militant groups holding Radu hostage had threatened to cut the diplomat into pieces if the government failed to meet their demands for the release of three men facing the death penalty for assassinating a former Indian army chief.
The Oct. 19 deadline passed amid reports a Sikh militant killed in a shootout Wednesday in the capital's central Connaught Place commercial district was an active participant in Radu's abduction nine days ago.
The Press Trust of India news agency said the militant, Devpal Singh, was a leading member of the Khalistan Liberation Force, one of the four groups that claimed responsibility for Radu's kidnapping and sent a photograph of the diplomat to news agencies.
Singh was shot three times and swallowed a cyanide pill during a shootout with police at Connaught Place market in the heart of the city. He and five other suspected militants had been making calls at a public telephone booth.
Police were monitoring calls from the booth and officers immediately surrounded the area. Two militants escaped but three others were captured. Police shot Singh moments after he wounded a man while trying to steal his motorscooter. Then he ate cyanide.
The telephone monitoring came as part of a massive manhunt for Radu and his kidnappers. Radu, 55, was abducted Oct. 9 by four gunmen moments after he left his home in the upper-class Jor Bagh neighborhood of the city for a drive to his office across town.
The four Sikh militant groups that claimed responsibility for the abduction are the Khalistan Liberation Force, the Bhindranwale Tiger Force, the Khalistan Commando Force and the Sikh Students Federation. They are based in India's northwestern Punjab state.
Sikh militants have been fighting since 1983 to create an independent theocratic nation called Khalistan, or 'Land of the Pure,' in Punjab. More than 13,000 people have died in the violence, with the annual death toll growing worse each year.
