On October 31, 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot and killed by two of her bodyguards in New Delhi, History.com and The Indian Express report. The two men, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, were Sikhs.

The killing came months after Operation Blue Star in June 1984, when the Indian Army entered the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest Sikh shrine, to remove separatists inside, The Indian Express reports. Many Sikhs saw the raid as an attack on their faith.

Gandhi was walking down a garden path to her office when the guards opened fire, the outlets report. The Indian Express says they fired more than 30 bullets at close range. She was rushed to a hospital in a car, with her head in the lap of her daughter-in-law, Sonia.

Beant Singh, a longtime guard, was due to be moved off her team because he was a Sikh, History.com reports. Gandhi personally canceled the transfer because she trusted him.

The two men dropped their weapons after the shooting. Beant Singh was shot dead in custody soon after, and Satwant Singh was convicted and later hanged, the outlets report. Gandhi's son Rajiv rushed back to Delhi and succeeded her as prime minister.

In the days after the killing, mobs attacked Sikhs across India, especially in the capital. Gandhi, the daughter of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had first taken power in 1966, History.com reports.

What we know: Indira Gandhi was killed by two Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
What we don't: The exact number of Sikhs killed in the violence that followed.