Indian commandos early on Wednesday stormed a Hindu temple in the riot-torn eastern state of Gujarat and killed three gunmen, ending a bloody siege which left 30 devotees dead.
One of the elite ”Black Cat” commandos was also killed after the force entered the complex to flush out the holed-up militants, police said, as fears grew that the temple bloodbath could spark fresh Hindu-Muslim riots and fuel tensions with Pakistan.
Reports said at least two people were stabbed in sectarian clashes in Gujarat’s Surat city early on Wednesday.
At around 7:30 am (0200 GMT) police declared the operation over and allowed reporters into the sprawling Akshardham temple in the Gujarati capital Gandhinagar.
”Three bodies (of militants) have been recovered,” police superintendent R. P. Brahmbahtt told reporters.
The raid to flush out the militants, who stormed the Akshardham temple on Tuesday afternoon and sprayed devotees with automatic gunfire, began soon after midnight.
Sporadic bursts of gunfire were heard throughout the operation, while the night air was shattered by the sounds of at least a dozen grenade blasts.
Some 75 devotees who had been trapped in the complex during the night were freed during the operation.
Police said one commando was killed and seven wounded in the operation.
India’s junior Home Minister I.D. Swamy blamed the temple attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of two Pakistan-based militant groups blamed by New Delhi for an attack on its parliament in December.
The attack on the legislature brought India and Pakistan close to war, and between them the nuclear-ready rivals still have about a million soldiers eyeball-to-eyeball on their common frontiers, including in disputed Kashmir.
The Akshardham temple late on Tuesday had resembled a battle zone, with rescuers stretchering dead and injured to waiting ambulances while heavily-armed police and soldiers flooded into the area.
By midnight, more than 600 worshippers had been rescued from the complex , officials said, adding some 75 were treated with gunshot or shrapnel injuries.
Local hospitals were overloaded, with many patients being forced to wait bleeding in hallways.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who cut short a vacation in the Maldives, warned that India would not tolerate such attacks.
A high alert, meanwhile, was sounded in New Delhi and in the states of West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharastara and Tamil Nadu and security was stepped up at key Hindu temples countrywide, officials said.
India’s chief Muslim cleric Ahmed Bukhari warned the attack could again spark Hindu-Muslim violence in the strife-torn western state.
Some 1 000 people, mostly Muslims, died in riots that erupted in February and raged for three months in Gujarat.
The riots broke out after a Muslim mob on February 28 torched a train carrying Hindu activists, killing 58 people. ”Riots can start, there is a distinct possibility of an eruption because just three days ago we saw communal violence in Gujarat,”
Bukhari, the chief of India’s largest mosque said in New Delhi. Advani, Vajpayee and Indian President Abdul Kalam appealed for calm.
”I am sure that the people would understand that a conflict would serve the enemies of the country.
”I can say that they think the developments in Jammu and Kashmir will strengthen India and so to divert attention, a big incident will be beneficial to them. I see in it a very deliberate design,” Advani said.
The second phase of polling for Kashmir was held on Tuesday. Muslim militants fighting Indian rule have threatened to kill anyone taking part and 20 people died in the region in violence on Tuesday.
India accuses Pakistan of backing the militants, although Pakistan denies the charge and says it extends only diplomatic and moral support to the militant groups.
Pakistan, meanwhile, argued the temple bloodbath was aimed at heightening tension in the region. – Sapa-AFP