Terrorist opens fire at rly station, one killed, 2 hurt-just in

Terrorist nabbed in Ludhiana firing

LUDHIANA: It was a throwback to the dark days of terrorism at the crowded Ludhiana railway station early Tuesday morning when a terror suspect,

travelling with his woman accomplice, fired at GRP cops in an encounter that lasted over four hours. A vendor was shot dead while two policemen who took on the attacker were wounded in the gun battle.

Trouble began at around 3.15 am when Balbir Singh Bira and Sukhjinder Kaur, who had boarded a train from Manmad in Maharashtra, were stopped for security check by GRP and RPF men on duty at the Ludhiana railway station.

The couple had disembarked from Jhelum Express, that travels between Pune and Jammu, and on being asked for the license for the Chinese-made .32 bore pistols they were carrying, opened fire at constables Niranjan Singh, 54, and Karampal Singh, 55. Caught unawares both the cops sustained deep bullet wounds.

But even as Sukhjinder Kaur was arrested, Bira, identified as a Khalistan Commando Force member, ran towards a train parked at platform no 3 and tried to slip past the cops. When Santosh, a vendor, tried to wrestle him to the ground, he shot him from point blank range, killing the man on the spot.

By then the terrorist was surrounded and given the option to surrender. When Bira agreed to sit for talks, he was offered tea laced with sedatives. He took the bait and was arrested as he passed out minutes later.

Terrorist opens fire at rly station, one killed, 2 hurt

LUDHIANA: A suspected terrorist opened fire at the railway station here killing a vendor and injuring two GRP head constables when they tried to

check his luggage, police said.

The firing occurred when the two Government Railway Police constables of the Narcotics Cell tried to check the bag of the suspected terrorist in the Jammu-bound Jhelum Express which arrived here from Pune around 3.30 am at platform no. 4 of the railway station, they said.

The suspected terrorist identified as Balbir Singh Bhootna immediately got down and hid himself under a compartment of the Jhelum Express and opened fire at the police and the cops retaliated.

"Bhootna was arrested after an exchange of fire which lasted around one hour," Ludhiana Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sukhchain Singh said.

A woman, who was accompanying the suspected terrorist, has also been taken into custody, Singh said.

The vendor was killed on the spot during the exchange of fire, GRP Superintendent of Police S J P Sharma said.

The two injured head constables have been identified as Karanpal Singh and Naranjan Singh, he added.