Chandigarh: In a “first attack” on a religious place in Punjab’s Amritsar city, close to the border with Pakistan, two assailants hurled an explosive at the Thakurdwara Temple complex, damaging its walls and shattering its window panes.
Police are tracking the suspects and claim Pakistan’s involvement behind the attack.
The CCTV footage showed the attackers arriving at the location on a bike with a flag mounted on it.
After waiting for a few seconds, one of them threw a grenade, and both fled the spot.
Police believe the attack was carried out as part of a planned strategy to trigger fear amid the Holi festivities.
The temple’s wall was damaged in the explosion.
Fortunately, a priest and his family, who were residing on the upper floor of the temple, were unharmed.
Lashing out at the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, the Shiromani Akali Dal sought judicial probe into the incident, while BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh demanded a CBI investigation to expose the forces attempting to disturb law and order in Punjab.
Expressing serious concern over the repeated grenade attacks in the region, Chugh said the AAP government, led by CM Bhagwant Mann, has completely failed to control inimical elements in the state.
Akali Dal leader Daljit Cheema said the incident, which hurt the sentiments of the people, seemed to be part of a plan to disturb peace and communal harmony in Punjab.
“This is the 13th such blast in the area and is proof of the complete collapse of law and order in the state,” he added.
“Both the Union and state governments should take moral responsibility for these incidents and should desist from interfering in the religious affairs of Sikhs and stop provoking forces who want to illegally take control of Sikh institutions. Such experiments have proved to be dangerous in the past and are again taking Punjab in the wrong direction. So both state and Union governments should learn from history,” Cheema said.
Area resident Kiranpreet Singh, who is an advocate by profession, said: “At around 12 a.m., two people came on a bike, stopped outside the Thakurdwara Mandir, conducted a recce and threw a grenade at the temple. The blast was so powerful that it also affected the nearby buildings, breaking window panes. The police later reached the spot. As per the evidence, this was a grenade attack.”
Amritsar Police Commissioner, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, told the media that efforts “are being made by Pakistan to disturb the atmosphere here, and some local youths are involved in this. I urge our youths not to get involved in such activities”.
Responding to the incident, Chief Minister Mann said being a border state, a number of forces inimical to Punjab have been chalking out nefarious designs to disturb its hard-earned peace.
However, he said the vigilant Punjab Police has always foiled such attempts as the police force has been updated as per advanced requirements in the field of investigation, science and technology.
CM Mann expressed hope that the Punjab Police would uphold the legacy of serving the people with utmost professional commitment to protect the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the country.
The Chief Minister said the Amritsar grenade attack incident is also the handiwork of the fissiparous forces that want to destabilise the peace, progress, and prosperity of the state.
He added that the government would never allow these forces to succeed in their nefarious designs and all their conspiracies will be foiled.
Mann claimed the law and order situation in Punjab is much better than other states as Punjab Police is keeping an eagle eye over the matter.
The Chief Minister said that Punjab had always remained a victim of cross-border terrorism and has been fighting the nation’s war against drugs and terrorism.
He added that the drones had been frequently used to smuggle drugs, weapons and other things into the state from across the border.
In a statement, Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said this incident had further shaken the faith of people in the AAP government.
“There is an atmosphere of fear and terror in the state due to such attacks,” he said, while pointing out so many similar grenade attacks have taken place in the border areas targeting police stations.
He said the government was trying to play down the incident which must be taken seriously.
He added that the attack appears to have been deliberately planned on a temple to create fear among people.
He warned that Punjab cannot afford another dark era of terror and it must be nipped in the bud.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, sought the resignation of Chief Minister Mann, who also holds the Home Ministry portfolio.
“This is the 13th such incident in the border belt of Punjab since mid-November. In the previous incidents, the police stations and police personnel were targeted. In this incident, two bike-borne men hurled explosives toward the Thakurdwara temple, which could potentially create communal tension in the state,” Bajwa said.
The temple grenade attack comes a day after three motorcycle-borne assailants shot dead Mangat Rai Manga, the district president of Shiv Sena, in Punjab’s Moga district, owing to “personal rivalry”.
Two others, including an 11-year-old boy, suffered injuries in the firing.
(IANS)
