Indian Sikh guru killed in 'planned attacked': Vienna police

H S Rao

Vienna/London, May 25 (PTI) A head of a leading Indian
Sikh sect, Sant Rama Nand, who died of a temple wound in an
assault by members of a rival fundamentalist group, was killed
in a "planned attack," Vienna police said Monday.

"The attack had clearly been planned," police spokesman
Michael Takacs told newsmen, adding that a full investigation
was on in the case in which at least 16 people were wounded,
some of them seriously.

The attack has sparked off widespread riots in parts of
northern India, where the followers of Sant Rama Nand,
associate head of the Jalandhar-based Dera Sacha Khand, took
to the streets to protest the killing of the preacher.

Nand, 57, one of the two visiting preachers died of his
wounds in hospital.

Six of the attackers, who were later apprehended and
roughed up by the devotees, are also lodged in hospital. The
condition of four of the attackers was serious, while the
other two were stable and were questioned by the police.

The Austrian police did not rule out the possibility of
more arrests.

"The investigations are continuing to find out if the
six attackers were acting alone or under orders," the
spokesman said.

Police revised the number of injured in the attack from
about 30 to 16. The other preacher Sant Niranjan Dass, 66 is
among the seriously injured.

Takacs said the attackers who pulled out knives and
fired from a gun Sunday as the 'Sant' was preaching to about
200 disciples at a gurdwara near here, were Indian nationals
who were living in Austria for some time.

The gurdwara where the attack occurred is located in
Vienna's 15th district. Some 3,000 Sikhs live in Austria.

The police spokesman said Sant Anand underwent an
emergency operation but "lost consciousness and died shortly
after midnight Sunday night."

Takacs said the six people who opposed the sermon had
launched the attack. "One drew a firearm, the others knives.
The six people were overpowered by members of the community
and seriously injured."

Two of the wounded attackers were in critical condition
after being shot in the head, he said.

The gurdwara, that witnessed the clash, was opened in
Vienna in December 2005.

In India, two persons were killed and several injured as
violence triggered by the killing engulfed Punjab and parts of
Haryana where protestors set afire train coaches, buses and
clashed with police.

Curfew was imposed in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Phagwara and
Hoshiarpur following largescale violence and army was called
in Jalandhar. PTI HSR