Indian police say it killed three separatists belonged to Khalistan Zindabad Force

Indian police has said that they had killed three Sikh separatists fighting for an independent homeland known as “Khalistan”. The struggle for separate country had sparked deadly violence in the 1980s and 1990s.

Last year, the campaign for Khalistan was at the heart of a diplomatic firestorm after fter Indian intelligence officials were linked to the killing of a Sikh leader in Canada and an attempted assassination in the United States. These claims were rejected by New Delhi.

In recent incident, the Khalistani activists were killed after a gun battle in Pilibhit district in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

These activists were wanted for their involvement in a grenade attack this month on a police outpost in Punjab state.

The Pilibhit police superintendent, Avinash Pandey, said that officers had surrounded the men after a tip-off, with the suspects launching “heavy fire”.

“In the retaliatory action, all three were critically injured and later died in hospital,” he said. Police recovered two assault rifles, two pistols and a large cache of ammunition.

Punjab police chief Gaurav Yadav said in a statement that the three men belonged to Khalistan Zindabad Force, a separatist group.

The Khalistan movement dates back to India’s 1947 independence and has been blamed for the assassination of a prime minister and the bombing of a passenger jet.