Portal:1980s/Selected article/27
Indira Gandhi, the 4th Prime Minister of India, was assassinated at 09:20 on 31 October 1984, at her Safdarjung Road, New Delhi residence. She was killed by two of her bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, the Indian Army's June 1984 assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar which left the Sikh temple heavily damaged.
At about 09:20 on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was on her way to be interviewed by British actor Peter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish television. She was walking through the garden of the Prime Minister's Residence at No. 1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi towards the neighbouring 1 Akbar Road office.
As she passed a wicket gate guarded by Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, the two opened fire. Sub-Inspector Beant Singh fired three rounds into her abdomen from his sidearm. Satwant Singh then fired 30 rounds from his Sten gun into her after she had fallen to the ground. After the shooting, both threw their weapons down and Beant Singh said "I have done what I had to do. You do what you want to do." In the next six minutes Tarsem Singh Jamwal and Ram Saran, soldiers in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, captured and killed Beant Singh in a separate room because Beant Singh allegedly tried to pull a gun on the officers in the room. Satwant Singh was arrested by Gandhi's other bodyguards along with an accomplice trying to escape, and was seriously wounded in the attack initiated by Beant Singh. Satwant Singh was hanged in 1989 with accomplice Kehar Singh. (Full article...)