November 18
At least three people have been killed and several injured in a grenade explosion in Amritsar’s Rajasansi village today, the police said.
Surinder Pal Singh Parmar, a senior officer, said the 10 injured have been taken to the hospital and the bodies of the victims sent for post-mortem.
Eyewitnesses say that two men on a motorcycle, their faces covered, threw a grenade at the Nirankari Bhawan, where a religious ceremony was on at the time, and fled. The hall is just eight kilometres from the Amritsar airport.
ALSO READ: Zakir Musa Puts Entire Punjab on Alert
Every Sunday, thousands of devotees gather at the hall for prayers and kirtan. About 500 people were inside the hall when the attack took place.
“My condolences are with the families of those who lost their lives in this incident. It is an attempt to disturb peace in Punjab. All the security agencies are on high alert and coordinating with each other to maintain peace,” said Sunil Jakhar, Punjab Congress chief.
The attack happened amid a high alert issued by the Punjab Police that six to seven terrorists had entered the state. While the police are yet to confirm if it was a terrorist attack, they are analysing the CCTV footage and looking for clues to identify the attackers.
More details are awaited.