News In Brief

Extremist violence erupts once more in the Punjab

At least three people were killed and several wounded Thursday in fresh outbursts of extremist violence in India's northern state of Punjab, police said.

Sikh extremists also dynamited railway lines and a bridge within a 10-mile radius of Firozpur, a town on the Indian-Pakistani border. No casualties were reported.

In New Delhi, the lower house of Parliament approved a law allowing imprisonment without trial for up to two years in Punjab - part of the sweeping new powers given to police to control terrorism.

Opposition leaders denounced it as undemocratic and said it could be abused by the government and used against political opponents.