CHANDIGARH: In a suspected terror attack, two masked men on a motorcycle threw a grenade at a religious congregation, killing three people and injuring 20 in Amritsar on Sunday. “It is too early to say if it was a joint attack by Kashmiri and Sikh militants, but it was an act of terror aimed at a particular group in Punjab,” said Director General of Police Suresh Arora.
The incident took place around noon at Nirankari Bhavan in Adliwal village, near Rajasansi. While one of the suspects held a volunteer deputed at the gate at gunpoint, the other barged into the sermon grounds and threw a hand grenade at the congregation, sources said, adding that the attackers fled immediately after the incident.
No CCTV cameras were installed on the premises, where about 250 people were present during the attack.
The Nirankari Bhawan has been sealed and a massive search operation has been launched to nab the suspects. A SWAT team has also been deployed for the search operations and security has been beefed up at other Nirankari Bhavans in the state.
The hall is just eight km from the Amritsar international airport. A volunteer Gagan, who was stationed at the gate when the two men came on a bike said that one assailant went inside with a crowd of followers and the other one pointed a gun at his stomach as he wanted to know what was happening inside. “I told him it was a satsang and he also went inside and then there was an explosion,” he said. A crater, which is 3” in diameter was formed by the impact of the explosion and was being examined by the forensic team. The safety valve of the grenade has also been found and was being examined.
“We are analyzing the CCTV footage of adjacent buildings and looking for clues to identify the attackers. The bodies of the victims sent for post-mortem,’’ said a police official. The injured have been admitted in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and Ivy Hospital in Amritsar. The condition of four of the injured is said to be in critical. An eye-witness who was the part of the congregation said the attackers also had weapons and entered the Nirankari Dera on gunpoint. The youth were chased by people but got away.