Man fires at police probing Vienna temple attack

A man shot at police in Vienna as they prepared to raid an apartment in connection with last month's attack on a Sikh temple in the Austrian capital which killed an Indian preacher, police said.

A man shot at police in Vienna on Monday as they prepared to raid an apartment in connection with last month's attack on a Sikh temple in the Austrian capital which killed an Indian preacher, police said.

HT Image

Vienna police spokesman Michael Takacs said the 26-year-old man shot two rounds from a handgun through a closed door but did not hit anybody. Anti-riot police entered the apartment and immediately overpowered him, he said.

The raid was one of nine undertaken simultaneously by police in the city as part of the investigation into the attack on the preacher and worshippers by six armed men which left at least 16 people wounded.

Takacs said police did not know the reason behind the temple attack and were trying to find out whether more people were involved. He said knives, handguns and rifles were found in the raided apartments, along with documents and computer disks.

"There are suspicions that certain individuals and locations were in touch with the attackers," Takacs said.

News of the May 24 temple attack in Vienna sparked riots in the Indian state of Punjab after people mainly from the Dalit or "untouchable" community protested against the incident.