Lt Gen Brar, who led Operation Bluestar, attacked in London

More than 28 years after he led Operation Bluestar to flush out insurgents from the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Lt Gen (retd) K S Brar was injured in a knife attack by unidentified men in London on Sunday night.

London police sources said two persons had been detained in connection with the attack in which Brar's wife was also injured as she was pushed to the ground. Brar, 78, was discharged from hospital on Monday evening and the Indian high commission is helping the couple return to India at the earliest, officials said.

Central intelligence sources said Brar was visiting his daughter in Britain and was walking back to his hotel in Mayfair in Central London with his wife around 10 pm when four men attacked him. He was struck on the neck and the attackers fled when his wife raised an alarm.

Brar was attacked at 10.11 pm on Quebec Street and although his injury was serious it was not life-threatening, a London Metropolitan Police spokesperson told The Indian Express over the phone.

Ministry of External Affairs sources said the Indian defence attaché in London had met Brar and his family in hospital and the high commission is helping them complete formalities. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is in New York, has instructed the high commission to request authorities in London to speed up investigations.

Brar was a Major General commanding the 9 Division based in Meerut at the time of Operation Bluestar, and on the night of June 5, 1984, he led the Army inside the Golden Temple. He had six infantry battalions and a detachment of commandos with him.

Brar had repeatedly asked the soldiers not to fire in the direction of the Golden Temple even if there was firing from that side. In the recent past, he has criticised calls to set up a memorial dedicated to the militants inside the Golden Temple.

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