A visiting Indian religious guru has been killed and 30 people were injured when a shooting and knife fight erupted during a dispute between rival communities at a Sikh temple in Vienna.(Watch live news on IBN 7)
The clash in the Austrian capital took place as two gurus visiting from India gave a sermon at the temple, where 200 people had gathered.
- Austrian police and medical team attend to an injured victim at gurdwara in Vienna
Others in the audience pounced on the attackers, who a witness said were wearing yellow and blue turbans, and subdued them, according to police.
One guru, Sant Rama Nand, 56, died of his wounds in hospital, a police spokesman said.
“The surgeon said at first he was satisfied with his patient’s condition after an emergency operation,” he told APA news agency. “But the patient lost consciousness and died shortly after midnight (2200 GMT),” he added.
The condition of the second wounded guru, Sant Niranjan Dass, 66, was described as stable, the spokesman said.
The two gurus belonged to the Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha movement.
A police spokesman, Michael Takacs, said that six people who opposed the sermon had launched the attack. “One drew a firearm, the others knives. The six people were overpowered by members of the community and seriously injured.”
Two of the wounded attackers were in critical condition after being shot in the head.
“I was outside when it happened and I only heard the shots,” a 21-year-old witness said. “My uncle was hit by a knife on his left side, another man in the eye.”
Worshippers at the temple, which opened in December 2005, have protested against the caste system that remains popular among some Sikhs. It has also been accused of not strictly following Sikh traditions.
Indian media said later that a curfew was imposed in parts of the Sikh-majority city of Jalandhar in the northern state of Punjab after violence broke out, apparently in response to news of the incident in Vienna.(telegraph.co.uk)
Update : Riots have broken out in almost all towns and cities in the Indian state of Punjab after a Sikh guru was killed by a rival group in a temple in Austria.
“Whatever the provocation, it is important to maintain peace and harmony among different sections of the people”said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
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