2 min readFeb 20, 2026 07:38 AM IST
First published on: Feb 20, 2026 at 07:36 AM IST
Violence erupted in Punjab as at least six persons were killed and 40 injured, six of them seriously, in the border districts of Gurdaspur and Amritsar, while a 48-hour curfew was clamped in Batala after members of two communities indulged in arson and clashed with each other. Two chemists, Amrit Lal Jain and his son Ashok Kumar Jain, were shot dead in the main market of Patti in Amritsar district while police sub-inspector Des Raj was gunned down.
Barnala orders firm steps
The Punjab Chief Minister, Surjit Singh Barnala, asked the state administration to deal firmly with those indulging in lawlessness in Batala. Barnala, who was in New Delhi for a meeting with the Union Finance Minister and the Planning Commission on the outlay of the state plan, asked the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly, Nirmal Singh Kahlon, to rush to Batala to study the situation and help the authorities restore normalcy.
PM on Bharat bandh
Addressing Congress (I) in Parliament on the eve of the Budget Session, the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, said that bandhs ultimately harmed the country, retarded progress and were detrimental to the interests of the poor and the weak. The recent resource mobilisation should be seen in the context of challenges that a developing nation of our size and potential has to face, he said.
Shoot orders in Jammu
Curfew was imposed on Jammu city and shoot-at-sight orders were issued following continued mob violence. Earlier, the police repeatedly resorted to lathi-charge and fired teargas shells to disperse stone-pelting mobs. A case of stabbing was reported from the Shahidi Chowk area. Sudesh Kumar, the victim of the mob fury, has been admitted to the SMGs Hospital with sword injuries. The number of those who have received injuries in the past three days has now reached over 200.
This is the front page of The Indian Express published on February 20, 1986. 
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