Archive · 5 Aug 2026
Khalistani Terror Attacks Pushed Punjab Police Toward Brutal Retaliation
For many years, people in Punjab, in northern India, wanted to create a new country and used violence to try to get it.
They hurt and killed police officers, even when the officers were not working.
Bombs exploded inside police offices, and officers were shot while at home or after praying at a holy temple.
The attackers also threatened officers' parents, wives and children to make the police stop working.
More than 1,700 police officers and helpers lost their lives during this difficult time.
The police became very scared, but they also became very angry.
Feeling so unsafe made some police officers do very bad things that were not right, like hurting innocent people.
This story helps explain why the police reacted so harshly.
But explaining why something happened does not excuse bad actions.
Eventually the violence ended, but many people were hurt along the way.
Punjab Police says 1,784 officers and personnel were killed during the insurgency, with the toll spanning assassinations, bombings, ambushes and attacks on homes.
Commandant Gobind Ram and three personnel died on 10 January 1990 when a bomb exploded inside Punjab Armed Police headquarters in Jalandhar.
DIG Avtar Singh Atwal was shot dead on 25 April 1983 outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar after offering prayers.
On 3 October 1986, terrorists wearing police uniforms breached PAP headquarters in Jalandhar and opened fire on police chief Julio Ribeiro.
KPS Gill recorded 506 policemen killed in 1990 and 134 police family members killed in 1991; an India Today report cites 26 relatives killed on 2 October 1991.
- Who
- Punjab Police personnel and their families, targeted by Khalistani terrorist organisations including the Khalistan Liberation Force and Bhindranwale Tiger Force.
- What
- A campaign of bombings, assassinations, abductions and attacks on police families that pushed the force toward brutal retaliation.
- When
- Primarily the 1980s and early 1990s; specific incidents span from 1983 to 1995.
- Where
- Punjab, India, including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Tarn Taran and Phillaur.
- Why
- Terrorists aimed to break police morale and collapse the force from within; the article argues this sustained attack explains, without excusing, the police's brutal response.
Critics of police conduct
State security perspective
Explaining police brutality
Critics of police conduct
Brutal police methods — unlawful killings, torture, disappearances and fake encounters — were serious human rights violations requiring separate examination and cannot be excused by terrorism.
State security perspective
A police force hunted at work, at home and through its families was pushed into retaliation, and the campaign against police was a struggle for institutional and personal survival.
Character of the insurgency
Critics of police conduct
Khalistani groups presented their armed campaign as a separatist struggle representing the Sikh community against the Indian state.
State security perspective
The killing of Sikh officers, politicians, journalists and civilians disproved the claim that separatists spoke for Sikhs; the conflict was between armed separatists and those, including many Sikhs, who refused to submit.
- Police personnel killed
- 1,784 officers and personnel (as stated by Punjab Police; repeated by DGP Suresh Arora in 2016)
- Policemen killed in 1990
- 506, most while at home on leave (per KPS Gill)
- Police family members killed
- 19 in 1990 and 134 in 1991 (per KPS Gill)
- Relatives killed on 2 Oct 1991
- 26 (per an India Today report)
- First major incident
- DIG Avtar Singh Atwal shot dead outside the Golden Temple, Amritsar, on 25 Apr 1983
- Headquarters bombing
- Commandant Gobind Ram and three personnel killed at 75th Battalion PAP HQ, Jalandhar, on 10 Jan 1990
- Attack on police chief
- Julio Ribeiro targeted at PAP headquarters by terrorists in police uniforms on 3 Oct 1986
- SSP convoy attack
- Remote-controlled blast with ~5 kg RDX on 29 Aug 1991 killed ASI Lalu Ram and ASI Amin Chand
- Training college bombing
- Inspector Harcharan Singh Soori and ASI Ram Moorti killed at Phillaur Police Training College on 11 Feb 1990