Bomb attack at Nirankari sect in Amritsar three dead, 20 injured
Jagmohan Singh
Amritsar, Nov 18, 2018 - At least three people were killed and Twenty injured in a bomb blast incident at Nirankari Bhawan falling at village Adliwala village outskirt of Amritsar here today.
The blast site is just four kilometres away from the Shri Guru Ramdas International Airport.
According to police, two motorcycle borne youth in the afternoon arrived at Nirankari Bhawan where the weekly religious congregation was in process, shown pistol to volunteers to gain entry in the premises and got access in the big hall where the religious activity was going on.
DGP Punjab police Suresh Arora who visited the spot in the evening said, “Three sect followers were killed and twenty injured including one serious after the hand grenade attack inside the sect premises”.
Giving detail of incident, Arora said, There were two motor cycle borne assailants arrived, one was holding pistol or revolver and another was carrying grenade which was thrown inside the premises and after the crime both fled away”.
Adding further, “DGP said, “We are also taking this act on terror angle. But yet too early to say anything concretely but more findings would come out during the course of deep investigation. Moreover, NIA team from Delhi, besides forensic experts from Chandigarh also arriving to investigate the matter may reach here by tomorrow”.
When asked about any intelligence inputs about the crime with police, DGP said, “There were inputs from intelligence about some terror related act but there was no specific information wherein a attack on group could be made. Now our teams are investigating the incident from different angle to find out more facts with regard to attack on gathering”.
SSP Parmpal Singh, who visited the spot, told PTI while confirming the death of three followers of Narnkari sect and twenty injured said that there were two masked assailants came on motorcycle and both went inside while showing weapon to two volunteers standing on main gate.
Adding further, SSP said that one of the volunteer was keeping pistol, shown to gatemen Arjan and Gagan and detained them near the gate unless his accomplice came back after lobbing the grenade inside the hall.
SSP further said that one of the assailant on gaining entry in the premises, state away went inside the big hall where around two hundreds Nirnkari followers were busy in religious congregation, thrown grenade and ran out.
The sect followers and volunteers who were sitting inside the hall where the bomb was lobbed, first couldn’t understood what happened when bomb exploded and after throwing bomb, assailant manage to escape from the spot, said SSP adding that his accomplice who was already standing on the main gate of the sect premises with pistol ran toward the motorcycle, started the engine and his accomplice jumped on the rear seat and ran towards another village and avoided to join the main road.
In the evening DGP and other police officers visited to injured in the hospital to enquire their health. Meanwhile security in all the Nirnkari Bhawans have been tightened in the district.
There was no security arrangement on the part of police to followers of Narnkari sect since they never demanded any police protection during the weekly religious congregation as they never observed threat perception, said police.
Meanwhile, BJP senior leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina condemned the ghastly act of killing innocents in the Amritsar blast. He expressed his anguish at the horrifying state of deteriorating law and order in the state and added that serious measures needed to be taken to improve law and order situation in Punjab.