Punjab CM hints at Pak hand in Amritsar ‘terror’ hit

Chandigarh: As NIA sources hinted at possible foreign funding behind the killing of three people in a suspected terror strike in Amritsar, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday said the grenade attack at Nirankari Bhavan  seems to carry Pakistan’s signature.

He said initial investigations indicate that the grenade used was similar to the ones being manufactured by the Pakistani Army Ordinance factory.

Announcing a reward of `50 lakh for anyone providing information on the two masked mobike-borne assailants involved in the blast, the chief minister said, “The police had recovered similar HG-84 grenades from a terror module busted last month, indicating a high probability of the involvement of inimical forces from across the border.”

After visiting the attack site along with his senior ministers, Amritsar MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu and PPCC president Sunil Jakhar, the chief minister said certain “leads” have been found by investigators who are pursuing them aggressively.

The chief minister assured that culprits would soon be arrested and denied that the incident had any religious overtones and described it as a terror act.

Congress spokesperson Charan Sapra told a new channel that though the blast case is now with the NIA and the CBI, the state police arrested four people and handed over to the central agencies all the related evidence collected so far.  

Sources said the NIA suspects role of foreign funding for the ground-level operatives that executed the explosion and has advised neighbouring states to remain alert.

Three persons including a preacher were killed and over 20 injured when two-motorcycle borne men threw grenade on a religious congregation on Sunday. The attack took place inside the Nirankari Bhawan’s prayer hall at Adliwal village near Amritsar’s Rajasansi, an incident which the police is treating as a “terrorist act”.

Earlier, the chief minister said that the incident appears to be an act of terror by separatist forces organised with the involvement of ISI-backed Khalistani or Kashmiri terrorist groups.

Responding to a query, Captain Amarinder said the attack could not be equated with the Nirankari conflict in 1978 as that was a religious matter and the Adliwal incident was purely a case of terrorism.

Violence between the Sant Nirankari Mission and traditional Sikhs on April 13, 1978, at Amritsar had left 13 people dead, and sparked the subsequent wave of terrorism in the state. Yesterday’s incident had no religious overtones, as per initial investigations, said the chief minister.

In response to a question, the Chief Minister said the state was already on high alert, with strict checking going on around landmark buildings and other vital public installations and infrastructure.