40 years ago October 26, 1986: Terror attack in Punjab village

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on October 26, 1986.

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on October 26, 1986.

2 min readOct 26, 2026 06:40 AM IST First published on: Oct 26, 2026 at 06:40 AM IST

Seven people were killed and six seriously injured when three terrorists sprayed bullets from Sten guns in a busy market in Khuban village in Abohar tehsil, Ferozepur district. According to official reports, the extremists came to the village on foot at around 7.30 pm and escaped on foot after the killings.

Buta Singh heads to attack site

The Home Minister, Buta Singh, is leaving for Abohar following reports of a major terrorist attack. According to reports given to the Home Minister by the Punjab government, a group of terrorists resorted to indiscriminate firing in Khuban village in Sadar police station, Abohar town.

No decision on Congress posts

The Congress-I president, Rajiv Gandhi, has not yet made a decision on scrapping the posts of vice-president and working president, now held by Arjun Singh and Kamlapati Tripathi respectively. This became obvious when the official letters sent to the two leaders asking them to attend the meeting of the Central Parliamentary Board mentioned their official posts. Party sources indicated that a decision on the retention of the two posts would be considered when the question of recasting the AICC-I setup is taken up.

Pakistan to get AWACS soon

The Reagan administration will soon clear sales of AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) to Pakistan. A top Pentagon official announced that Washington was also willing to deploy American planes and ground staff in Pakistan till such time as Pakistan got its own AWACS from the United States. In what will be the most significant defence transfer to Pakistan, the administration has declared that it would most probably supply Pakistan with the E-3 AWACS.