[DAWN] Three gunnies who fought a 12-hour battle on Monday near the Pakistain border were Moslem, the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
police chief said on Tuesday, contradicting speculation that the attack may have been carried out by Sikh separatists.
"The inspection of the bodies shows that the assailants were Moslems," said Sumedh Singh Saini, director general of police in the northern state, speaking to news hounds at the cop shoppe that came under attack.
Ten people, including four police, three civilians and the three bully boys, were killed in a prolonged battle that began early on Monday morning, the first of its kind in Indian Punjab in more than a decade.
Take a look: Gun battle at Indian Punjab cop shoppe ends, ten killed.
The attack bore the hallmarks of similar attacks in the neighbouring region of Jammu, which has seen more frequent operations by gunnies hitting security posts in recent years.
Saini did not elaborate why police concluded the gunnies were Moslem and declined to confirm whether or not they were from Pakistain, as some Indian security sources had suggested.
He said police had not yet identified the assailants, as they were not carrying any identifying papers or documents.
"They had even gone to the lengths of removing the identifying marks on their weapons," Saini said.