Explosion targets temple in Amritsar, Oppn slams AAP govt

Amritsar: A blast occurred outside a temple in Amritsar around midnight when an unidentified attacker who came on a motorcycle hurled an explosive device towards the building, damaging a portion of its wall and shattering window panes, officials said on Saturday.

Punjab Police said it suspects the role of Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the attack on Thakur Dwar temple and vowed to apprehend the culprits soon.

There have been many incidents of explosions targeting police posts in Amritsar and Gurdaspur in the past four months but this is the first such attack on a temple.

While no one was hurt in the incident, which was captured on CCTV, the explosion caused panic among residents in the Khandwala area of Amritsar.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the Amritsar incident was a handiwork of fissiparous forces that want to destabilise the peace but they will never succeed in their design.

Opposition parties alleged that it was proof of the “collapse” of the law and order under the AAP government. The BJP sought a CBI probe into the incident while Congress leader Partap Bajwa demanded the resignation of CM Mann who holds Home portfolio.

Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the police were informed about the incident at around 2 am on Saturday by the temple priest.

CCTV footage of the incident showed two unidentified persons coming to the temple on a motorcycle which had a flag. One person got down and, after a while, hurled an explosive device towards the temple. The two then fled from the site and the blast occurred.