11.   The type of plastic explosive used to bomb a passenger train in northern India has been used in the past by Sikh separatists, police said Thursday.

12.   To prevent any attack by Sikh separatists in Punjab state, policemen used used metal detectors, frisked people and searched cars and buses for bombs and weapons.

13.   Until a few years ago, Indian soldiers were fighting Sikh separatists in the northern Punjab state bordering Pakistan.

14.   A relentless police drive launched after Beant Singh took office left hundreds of Sikh separatists dead.

15.   A senior police official said the security forces had been put on alert to guard against a possible attack Saturday by Sikh separatists.

16.   An unspecified number of other Sikh separatists escaped, he said, adding that a manhunt had been launched to track them down.

17.   An Indian court has charged five police officers with murder for allegedly gunning down a Sikh separatist and his wife three years ago, newspapers reported Wednesday.

18.   Authorities said they suspected Sikh separatists from neighbouring Punjab state.

19.   But police in Chandigarh, joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, blamed Sikh separatists waging a protracted campaign for an independent homeland in Punjab.

20.   But those polls had been boycotted by the Akali Dal following death threats from Sikh separatists.