A man was killed and five seriously injured in a blast inside a court complex in Ludhiana on Thursday afternoon, with the police suspecting it to be triggered by a human bomb. Alarmed, the State Government has put “every crowded place” on alert, while asking the people to “be careful”.
Coming close on the heels of the two back-to-back incidents of attempted sacrilege, and ahead of upcoming Assembly polls, the bomb blast incident has created a stir with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi blaming the “anti-national elements” behind the same with the sole aim to disrupt State’s law and order.
“Since they failed to succeed in their nefarious designs while committing the recent sacrilege incidents, they are now creating terror,” the Chief Minister said, adding that stern action would be taken against those trying to disturb law and order in the State.
Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Home Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, “Punjab has been put on high alert. Special teams have been deployed to probe the matter.”
Seeking a detailed report on the incident, the Union Home Ministry has asked the Punjab Government to inform about the findings of the initial investigation and who could be possibly involved in the explosion.
The Home Ministry, in a communication, has asked the State Government to send the report “as early as possible”, giving details of the incident.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister, who visited the blast site and later met the injured in all three hospitals with Randhawa, announced free treatment for all injured persons in the blast.
A two-member team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Chandigarh rushed to probe the blast incident. Ludhiana Police Commissioner Gurpreet
Singh Bhullar said the area has been sealed and forensic teams will collect samples from the blast site.
“The explosion might have been executed by a human bomb. Though not confirmed, the person, whose body is inside and is yet to be identified, was either carrying the bomb or was very close to the same, we are investigating,” said Bhullar, who is leading the investigation.
Maintaining that the deceased is the prime suspect of the blast, the Police Commissioner said that the police have not picked the body yet and are waiting for the NSG’s bomb disposal squad to investigate the link between the man and the mysterious explosion. The police are suspecting use of IED in the blast.
The police have confirmed one death, though initially two deaths were reported from the spot. Bhullar said that the deceased was being identified to ascertain how and why he reached the blast spot.
Among the injured include an advocate, a photostat machine operator, a cop, and two visitors. The condition of all injured was stated to be stable and out of danger.
As per the information available, the blast took place at 12:25 p.m. inside a bathroom on the second floor of the court complex building. Two courtrooms are located near the toilet. The explosion damaged the walls of the bathroom and ripped through a section of the building, besides shattering glass in nearby rooms. Following the explosion, the bathroom grill fell on the vehicles parked on the ground floor.
Though the district court was functioning when the explosion took place, there was not much footfall of litigants and their attendants in the complex as the lawyers were observing strike.
Following the incident, the entire district administrative complex was evacuated on directions of the Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma. Thorough checking of all the Government offices in the district was also done.
