40 years ago, October 24, 1986: Militant-backed jathedar flees

Militant-backed Akal Takht jathedar Gurbachan Singh Manochahal escaped after an encounter with security forces. A school teacher was shot and wounded and nine terrorists were arrested in Punjab during the past 24 hours.

Manochahal, a proclaimed offender and member of the Panthic Committee nominated by militants, was among the five people involved in an exchange of fire with a Central Reserve Police Force patrol near Naushehra Pannuan. (Archive)

2 min readOct 24, 2026 06:30 AM IST First published on: Oct 24, 2026 at 06:30 AM IST

Militant-backed Akal Takht jathedar Gurbachan Singh Manochahal escaped after an encounter with security forces. A school teacher was shot and wounded and nine terrorists were arrested in Punjab during the past 24 hours. Terrorists also made an abortive attempt to loot a bank in Jalandhar. Manochahal, a proclaimed offender and member of the Panthic Committee nominated by militants, was among the five people involved in an exchange of fire with a Central Reserve Police Force patrol near Naushehra Pannuan.

Karamjit test-fired weapon

Karamjit Singh, who made an attempt on the life of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at Rajghat, had test-fired his country-made revolver and killed an innocent person in Punjab, to convince himself of the weapon’s efficacy days before the abortive bid. The Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) interrogation of Karamjit revealed that the person fired upon had died on the spot. CBI sources said investigations had shown that the October 2 incident was not as innocuous as it had seemed. “It is definitely not a simple matter and indicates a deep-rooted conspiracy to assassinate the Prime Minister,” sources said.

Rebel Akalis’ meet put off

The Akali Dal led by Parkash Singh Badal has decided not to hold a political conference at Malout, but the hard-hitting statement by Punjab Governor Siddhartha Shankar Ray that apparently led to its indefinite postponement has caused resentment in ministerial circles. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, general secretary of the Akali Dal (Badal), announced that the proposed conference would not be held in view of the prevailing tension in Malout. However, he claimed that his party had not put off the conference under any threat from the government.

Soviet-US spat continues

The Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, has asserted that after the Reykjavík summit, Washington was claiming in vain that the two superpowers were moving towards an agreement on nuclear disarmament. He reiterated that President Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” programme was the chief obstacle on the road to a nuclear-free world.