India: 2 dead as Punjab burns over Vienna killing

An Indian Sikh priest has become the first casualty of the bloody clashes between two Sikh sects in Vienna, Austria.

Austrian police say two groups of Sikh worshippers clashed with knives and a handgun in the gurudwara on Sunday killing an Indian Sikh priest and injuring 30 others, nine of them seriously.

The priest who died from gunshot wounds has been identified as 56-year-old Sant Ram Nand. Sant Ram Nand underwent emergency surgery but died during on Sunday night.

He was accompanying another priest Sant Niranjan Das who was the preacher at the ceremony in the gurudwara. The two were giving a sermon to a gathering that calls itself the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.

Violence erupted when clashes broke out after six intruders attacked the gathering with knives and guns. All the assailants belonged to a rival Sikh sect and were objecting to the sermon.

Further to this incident , Two persons have been killed and many others injured on Monday as violence over the killing of a Sikh sect leader in Vienna spreads across Punjab and parts of Haryana.

One person was killed and four others were injured as Army jawans opened fire in Lambra village, 30 kms from Jalandhar. Another person was killed after the police opened fire on protesters at Jalandhar Cantonment railway station.

A mob set three bogies of the Kanyakumari-Jammu Tavi Express on fire as the train was passing through Phagwara in Punjab.

Some vehicles, too, have been torched and roads blocked by protestors in Phagwara.

Curfew has been imposed in Phagwara, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur following the violence in the area. Paramilitary forces have been sent to Phagwara to control violence.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday appealed to the people of Punjab to maintain peace and harmony after violence broke out in the state following the death of a Sikh religious leader in a clash in Vienna.

"I am deeply distressed by the outbreak of violence in Punjab following certain incidents in Vienna, Austria. Whatever the provocation, it is important to maintain peace and harmony among different sections of the people," the Prime Minister said.

"I appeal to all sections of the people in Punjab to abjure violence and maintain peace. In areas where curfew has been imposed, it is necessary that people should go back to their homes and allow the security forces to restore law and order," he added.

Manmohan Singh said Sikhism was about tolerance and harmony and that all the "revered gurus of Sikhism preached the values of equality, brotherhood and harmony".

"Invoking the teachings of the gurus, I sincerely appeal to the people of Punjab to heed this message and help the authorities restore peace and order," the prime minister said.