Police abuse of the Sikhs has occurred in all districts of Punjab since the 1984 Golden Temple incident, followed by the assassination of Indira Gandhi [ Hazarika S. "Indian Rights group Says Police Abuse Sikhs", New York Times, 26 February 1989, p. 8.]. Police actions have been re-inforced since 1986 by the nomination of a hardliner as Punjab Chief of Police [ "Punjab Punch", The Economist, 30 August 1986.]. In May 1987, large-scale police operations throughout the Punjab led to the arrest of hundreds of suspected Sikh militants [ "Indian Government Holds Hundreds of Suspects in Punjab Crackdown", Globe and Mail, 15 May 1987, p. A10.]. Since Jullundur is a major city of Punjab, one source (see attached) reports police killings of Sikh civilians and suspected militants there [Santokh Singh Dharam, The Only Option for Sikhs, (Vancouver: S.S. Dharam, 1984), p. 105.]. Some information is also available on involvement of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Punjab Police in repressive activities against the Sikhs in the Ludhiana district (where the town of Dharmkot is located) [Punjab Human Rights Organisation, The Fascist Offensive in Punjab, (Hounslow, U.K.: PHRO, 1989), p. 81-83.]. No specific mention of Bilgar is currently available to the IRBDC in Ottawa.