Punjab Government has sought the Centre’s help to probe the Ludhiana blast incident, suspected to be the handiwork of a human bomb.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday said that he had talked to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah hours after the incident and sought the Centre’s help to crack the case. The Centre had dispatched teams to Punjab to investigate the matter, said the Chief Minister while talking with the media.
“We need the Centre’s help as Punjab does not have the equipment to check the kind of RDX used in the blast,” said the Chief Minister.
At the same time, the Chief Minister categorically denied any intelligence failure. “There is no such thing. We are alert,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that the investigation, so far, had shown that the only person who died in the blast was the one trying to set it up. “No one has taken responsibility for the blast yet. Neither have we got any indications (of who might be behind it),” he added.
A day before, a bomb blast in Ludhiana district court complex shook the state, in which a man was killed while six others were injured, prompting the Punjab Government to declare a high alert across the State.
As per preliminary investigations, the Police suspect that the man killed in the blast was either carrying the same or trying to assemble or plant the explosive device.
The Chief Minister, a day before, had expressed apprehension saying that the explosion might have been an attempt to create “anarchy” in the poll-bound border state. Later, at a public meeting in Ludhiana’s Mullanpur Dakha, Channi sought to draw a parallel between the registration of an FIR against SAD MLA Bikram Singh Majithia, the blast, and the alleged sacrilege bids in the last few days.
RIJIJU VISITS COURT COMPLEX
Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju, who visited the Ludhiana District Court complex on Friday, said that the Centre and the State agencies will work in tandem to ensure strong action against the domestic and foreign elements trying to spoil peace and harmony in the State as well as the country. He said that Central and State agencies are already conducting an in-depth probe into the incident.
Rijiju, accompanied by Union Minister and Hoshiarpur MP Som Parkash and former union Minister and senior BJP leader Vijay Sampla, said that he had spoken to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, and also to the agencies probing the matter, and it was decided that the Central and State agencies will jointly probe the matter in depth and strong action will be taken against those behind the dastardly act. “The main purpose of my visit is to assure the people of Ludhiana as well as Punjab that by launching a coordinated effort with the State Government, the incident will be thoroughly probed,” he said, adding that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also concerned over the issue, and he was here to convey his empathy and support to the victims of the explosion and the people of Punjab.
DGP REVIEWS SECURITY SITUATION WITH CPs, SSPs
Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Siddharth Chattopadhyaya on Friday directed all the Commissioners of Police (CPs) and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) to launch preventive, precautionary, and operational security measures to ensure peace and communal harmony in the State. The DGP, in a review meeting with all the CPs and SSPs along with ADGP Internal Security RN Dhoke, ADGP STF Harpreet Singh Sidhu, ADGP Intelligence AS Rai, ADGP Elections Shashi Prabha Dwivedi, and ADGP Law and Order Dr Naresh Arora, took a stock of the crime situation in the state, especially in the wake of Ludhiana bomb blast a day before.
Chattopadhyaya gave clear instructions to CPs and SSPs to not let anyone take law in their hands. DGP also directed the police officers to keep vigil at all sensitive places and deploy maximum police force at nakas, besides ensuring day and night police patrolling and conducting spot checks at crowded places including markets, bus stands, railway stations, etc. There should be no inconvenience to the common public, especially to women and elderly people, he added. He also directed the police officers to activate police control rooms and mobile patrolling in their districts. The DGP also gave strict instructions to CPs and SSPs that no unauthorized security be given to any individual without the proper order from the DGP or ADGP Security.
“In case, it has already been given, it should be withdrawn within a day,” he said. With Punjab assembly elections-2022 also around the corner, the DGP directed CPs and SSPs to increase the effectiveness of Police checkpoints to prevent criminal activities besides asking them to identify criminal elements active in their respective areas and put them behind the bars. He also directed the Police officers to conduct maximum raids to arrest the troublemakers, parole jumpers, POs, and people involved in extortion, arms and ammunition cases.