The Shaheed Khalsa Force (or Saheed Khalsa Force; abbr. SKF[1]) is a Khalistani group[2] which claimed credit for marketplace bombings in New Delhi in 1997.[3][4][5] The group was previously unknown.[6]
Bomb blasts
editShaheed Khalsa Force had asserted that it set off three blasts in a Delhi district on 2 October 1997, wounding 27 people during a Hindu religious procession.[3][7]
The same day, three bombs put in a train near Delhi killed 2 people and wounded 38, including 2 Japanese visitors and 5 Australians.[3]
Shaheed Khalsa Force also asserted responsibility for three explosions in Delhi on 10 October 1997 that killed a child and wounded 16.[3]
Evidence about the group
editAll bombings for which Shaheed Khalsa Force claimed responsibility were in the Indian capital, Delhi. After 4-5 bomb-blasts in Delhi in 1997, the group was not reported again. Delhi police never arrested any member of SKF nor identified any of its leaders, so it remains unclear if the group was real or just a hoax.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Summary of World Broadcasts: Asia, Pacific, Issues 3051-3064. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1997. pp. 2–3.
- ^ Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the stateless nations. 4: S - Z. Westport, Conn. London: Greenwood Press. p. 2151. ISBN 978-0-313-32384-3.
- ^ a b c d "3 Killed and 62 Hurt by Blasts at a Crowded Market in Delhi". The New York Times. 1 December 1997. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
- ^ Rajan, Radha; Kak, Krishen (2006). NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds: Anti-nation Industry. Vigil Public Opinion Forum (India). p. 101.
- ^ The Indian Journal of Political Science, Volume 70, Issues 1-2. Indian Political Science Association. 2009. p. 559.
- ^ Info on Sikh Militant Organizations at Federation of American Scientists website
- ^ Frontline. Vol. 14. S. Rangarajan for Kasturi & Sons. 1997. pp. 37–42.