Indian general behind deadly shrine raid stabbed in London

A retired Indian army general who helped to lead a deadly 1984 raid on Sikhism's holiest shrine in India has been stabbed in London, in what he claims was an assassination attempt.

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LONDON // A retired Indian army general who helped to lead a deadly 1984 raid on Sikhism's holiest shrine in India has been stabbed in London, in what he claims was an assassination attempt.

Lt Gen Kuldeep Singh Brar, 78, was attacked by four men and slashed in the neck as he walked with his wife near the busy Oxford Street shopping area on Sunday.

He was treated at a hospital but later released. Police are treating the attack as attempted murder and have appealed for witnesses. A motive for the stabbing has not yet been established.

But Gen Brar linked the attack to his role in the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar to flush out Sikh militants, an operation in which more than 1,000 people were killed.

"Four bearded, tough-looking men, Sikhs wearing black jackets and black clothes, pounced on me. One of them pushed my wife to the side, she fell down and started screaming for help," Gen Brar told New Delhi Television. "Three of them charged at me, one pulled a kirpan, a dagger or a knife.

"There was a scuffle, and he tried to assassinate me and he slashed my neck with the knife.

"I fought back ... I kicked and boxed and warded off the attack, but in the meantime they had already slashed my neck."