| 1991 Punjab killings | |
| Location: | Ludhiana district, Punjab, India |
| Date: | June-Dec 1991 |
| Fatalities: | 125 |
| Type: | Mass shooting |
| Target: | Hindus |
| Perpetrators: | Khalistan Commando Force[1] |
| Motive: | Sikh Separatism Persecution of Hindus |
30.883°N 75.85°WThe 1991 Punjab killings were a series of train massacres that occurred on 15 June 1991 and 27 December 1991 in the Ludhiana district of the Indian State of Punjab. Khalistani militants killed 125 Hindu passengers[2] [1] in these incidents.
The militants stopped the two trains about a kilometre from Ludhiana station by pulling the emergency cords, triggering emergency brakes. They proceeded to open fire inside the trains at around 9:35 p.m. (IST), killing at least 80 passengers.[3] After the attackers fled, the train moved back to Badduwal station, where the rescue team arrived with doctors. Local villagers helped the survivors with food, water, medicine, and mental support.[4] The attacks came less than five hours after polling closed in a national election already marred by violence and interrupted by the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi around a month prior.
On 27 December, four men, believed to have been Khalistani, boarded a local passenger train travelling from Ludhiana to Ferozepur at Ludhiana. They pulled the emergency cord about 7:30 in the evening near a village called Sohian. Six other armed militants climbed aboard the train at the Sohian crossing. The militants shot at passengers who appeared to be Hindu using AK-47s. All but two of the 49 victims were Hindus. After the massacre, the gunmen left the train and disappeared into the night.[5]