Punjab blast: Devotee attacked assailants with brick, but they fled

AMRITSAR: The preliminary investigation into a grenade attack on a weekly religious congregation of Nirankaris at Adliwal village, near Rajasansi in Amritsar on Sunday afternoon has revealed that two men with covered faces, one of them with a flowing beard, forced their way into the prayer hall by brandishing a pistol. They detained the sewadar, lobbed a grenade into the prayer room and fled on a motorcycle. A 3-inch crater was formed by the impact of the explosion. The forensic team has examined the site and found the safety valve of the grenade.

Punjab chief minister Amarinder has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the three men killed in the attack, identified as Sandeep Singh, Sukhdev Kumar and Kuldeep Singh. Two of the injured are in a critical condition.

An eyewitness, Gagandeep Singh, who was on gate duty at the Nirankari Bhawan told TOI: “I was standing at the gate and a group of sangat arrived on a gharuka (a jugaad vehicle known as Peter rehra in Punjab) and they went inside. Immediately after that two motorcycle-borne youth, whose faces were covered, came to the gate. One of them asked me about the function and then the other one pointed a pistol at me and took me inside the compound.”

“They also made me call another sewadar, Lakhbir Singh who was on parking duty. When he came, one of the persons lobbed the grenade at the congregation and then both of them fled,” he added.

Gagandeep said one of the Nirankari followers tried to pick a brick to attack the assailants, but by then the devotees had caused a stampede in panic.

Another eyewitness Gurbaj Singh said: “I was stunned when I felt something whizzing past my ear and then there was an explosion. I was thrown several feet away and my wrist was injured. When I gained my senses, I saw my son drenched with blood and many injured persons.”
Inspector-General (border range) SPS Parmar said the organisers did not have any kind of permission to hold the function.
Amarinder, who reviewed the law and order situation in the state after the blast, directed the police to immediately enhance security arrangements at all sensitive places. He said his government was “on top of things” and although Punjab had been hit by a series of targeted attacks since 2015-16, this was the first attempt, in a long time, to disturb the peace through indiscriminate killings. Fifteen terror modules had been busted in the past 18 months, he claimed. Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the CM and tweeted: “Spoke to the chief minister of Punjab, @capt_amarinder ji who has apprised me of the situation in the wake of grenade attack in Amritsar. Strongest possible action will be taken against the perpetrators of this crime.”
Three people were killed and 19 others were injured in the attack. The devotees had gathered for satsang (spiritual discourse) at Rajasansi branch of the Nirankari Bhawan on Sunday afternoon.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

from Times of India https://ift.tt/2OROpR0