Top separatist leader flees in India jail break

At least 10 armed men disguised as policemen attacked a high security prison yesterday and freed a top Sikh militant commander and four others in India's Punjab state, officials said.

The attackers travelled in cars and stormed Nabha Jail after stabbing a guard at the main gate and firing rounds of live ammunition before fleeing with the inmates. Two more guards were injured in the attack in Patiala district.

Police identified one of the fugitives as Harminder Singh Mintoo, chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), a militant group fighting for a separate Sikh homeland in Punjab.

Mintoo was arrested in 2014 and is on trial for "terror attacks and funding".

The four others are part of a local criminal gang and were on trial for murder.

Unconfirmed local media reports said the attackers numbered around 20 and that six prisoners had escaped in the attack.

A senior police officer said the swift assault took guards by surprise as the attackers moved quickly through the complex, indicating they knew the jail layout.

Four officals, including the Punjab prison chief and jail superintendent, have either been suspended or sacked because of the jailbreak, authorities said.

A reward of 2.5 million rupees ($36,000) has been offered for information on the escaped prisoners.

Punjab was in the grip of insurgency for almost three decades since the 1970s after several Sikh groups launched an armed campaign for an independent Sikh country.