Hindus, Sikhs Battle in Punjab; 16 Hurt

AMRITSAR, India —  Hindu and Sikh militants fought with rocks and daggers in northern Punjab state Monday during a general strike called to protest the massacre of nine Hindus by Sikh extremists, state officials said.

At least 16 people, including four police officers, were injured in the melee in Hoshiarpur, 55 miles east of the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, they said.

The officials said the violence erupted when members of the Shiv Sena, a militant Hindu group, threatened Sikh shopkeepers with three-pronged daggers to force them to close their stores and join the statewide strike.

Elsewhere in Punjab, most markets and shops shut for the strike, called by major political parties to protest the slaying of nine Hindus on Saturday by Sikh extremists in the Punjab village of Khuban.