Amritsar: Two masked men brandishing a pistol forced their way into a weekly congregation of the Nirankari sect and lobbed a grenade into the prayer hall, killing three people and injuring 19 near Amritsar on Sunday afternoon. The Nirankaris are considered heretics by orthodox Sikhs and have long been the target of hardliners. An alert has been issued on Punjab’s border with Jammu and Kashmir after the attack.
Chief minister Amarinder Singh said this was the first attempt, in a long time, to disturb peace in Punjab through indiscriminate killing. It was possible that Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI was involved, he said. The hand of ISI-based Khalistani or Kashmiri terror groups was not ruled out. “Police teams have been rushed to raid suspected hideouts of the assailants and multiple teams are investigating various angles to the crack the case,” the CM was quoted as saying.
The devotees had gathered for a satsang (spiritual discourse) at Rajasansi branch of Nirankari Bhawan at Adliwal village in Amritsar district. Preliminary investigation revealed that two men with covered faces, one of them with a flowing beard, forced their way into the prayer hall by brandishing a pistol and lobbed the grenade into the crowd. A 3-inch crater was formed due to the impact of the explosion. The forensic team has examined the site and found the safety valve of the grenade.
Rs 5,00,000 compensation
Amarinder announced compensation of Rs 5,00,000 each to the families of the three men killed in the attack, identified as Sandeep Singh, Sukhdev Kumar and Kuldeep Singh. Two of the injured are in a critical condition. An eyewitness, Gagandeep Singh, who was on gate duty at the Nirankari Bhawan said: “I was standing at the gate and a group of sangat arrived on a gharuka (an improvised vehicle also known as Peter rehra in Punjab) and went inside. Just then, two motorcycle-borne youth, whose faces were covered, came to the gate. One of them asked me about the function and the other one pointed a pistol at me and took me inside the compound.”
“They also made me call another sewadar, Lakhbir Singh, who was on parking duty. When he came, one of the persons lobbed the grenade at the congregation and both of them fled,” he added. Gagandeep said one of the Nirankari followers tried to pick a brick to attack the assailants, but by then the devotees had caused a stampede in panic.
Another eyewitness, Gurbaj Singh, said: “I was stunned when I felt something whizzing past my ear and then there was an explosion. I was thrown several feet away and my wrist was injured. When I gained my senses, I saw my son drenched with blood and many injured persons.”
Inspector-general (border range) S P S Parmar said the organisers did not have any permission to hold the function. Amarinder, who reviewed the law and order situation in the state after the blast, directed the police to immediately enhance security at all sensitive places.
He said his government was “on top of things” and although Punjab had been hit by a series of targeted attacks since 2015-16, this was the first attempt, in a long time, to disturb the peace through indiscriminate killing. Fifteen terror modules had been busted in the past 18 months, he claimed.
