CHANDIGARH: Three minors, who were grievously injured in the high-intensity explosion that occurred during a political road show at Maur in Punjab’s Bathinda district on Tuesday night, succumbed to their injuries, bringing the death toll of the attack to six.
Nearly a dozen people were injured in the suspected terror attack, ahead of the state’s February 4 assembly elections. The condition of two of the injured is said to critical.
The deceased have been identified as Ashok Kumar (35) and his daughter Barkha Rani (7); Harpal Singh Palli (40), office assistant of Congress candidate Jassi; Ripaldeep Singh (9), Japsimran Singh (14) and Saurav Singla (13).
According to the police, the initial investigation revealed that the Maruti Alto car which was used in the blast was stolen. Also, the number plate of the car (PB-05-C-8973) was discovered to be originally that of a scooter.
The forensics team from the NSG in Delhi arrived at the blast site besides the forensics experts from Chandigarh to determine the nature of explosives used in the blast.
Raising the curtain on political blame game, Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh blamed Delhi chief minister and national convener of AAP Arvind Kejriwal for promoting extremist forces such as the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) in the state. He said the Maur bomb blast and the subsequent firing in Bathinda showed that the inoperative terror cells of the Khalistani were back to active mode again.
Amarinder said Kejriwal was fanning terror forces through his actions, led by the dangerous mix of the AAP extreme left and extreme right ideologies. He warned that Pakistan’s ISI was waiting for such opportunities triggered by extremist violence in India, to strike at the nation.
AAP blamed SAD president and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal for Maur bomb blast. National general secretary of AAP Sanjay Singh said the party has given a complaint against Sukhbir Badal to the Election Commission, seeking his arrest and interrogation.