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Police probing ‘grenade attack’ claims: Gurdaspur SSP
As per the injured, the blast occurred outside the city police station of Gurdaspur, a day before chief minister Bhagwant Mann was scheduled to visit the district to inaugurate a sugar mill.
Gurdaspur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Aditya said that police are carrying out a probe to ascertain ‘Khalistan Liberation Army’ claims of carrying out a ‘grenade attack’ outside the police station.
The statement came after a mysterious ‘blast’ on Tuesday evening left four people injured.
As per the injured, the blast occurred outside the city police station of Gurdaspur, a day before chief minister Bhagwant Mann was scheduled to visit the district to inaugurate a sugar mill.
The police officials had initially said that a truck’s tyre burst. But a social media post, from ‘Khalistan Liberation Army’ claimed the responsibility for the grenade attack. HT couldn’t independently verify the veracity of the post.
“The police are investigating all angles related to the incident, but added that it looks like some mischievous elements are it a grenade attack,” a police official said.
Gurdaspur SSP Aditya said that investigations are on. “The police are investigating the matter. We will be able to make a statement once we have the findings of the probe. We are also verifying the contents of a video related to the incident,” he added.
According to reports, the wife of a local BJP leader sustained splinter injuries, while her husband, who sustained an injury to his eye, has been referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh, for further treatment.
According to Anu, one of the injured and an ‘eyewitness’ said that the incident took place at around 8.30 pm.
“My husband and sister-in-law were also with me and got injured. I noticed that a flaming object fell on the ground, and it was followed by a big explosion. I felt something hit my head. My husband was hit in the eye by an object, and blood started oozing from his injury. He was taken to the hospital for the initial treatment and then referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh, for further treatment,” Anu said.
Anu added that she did not see any truck nearby at that moment. “I did not know what happened but felt small pieces of objects pierce my body,” another victim, Sapna Sharma, said.
Three ‘blasts’ in three months have police on alert
HT Correspondent
letterschd@hindustantimes.com
Chandigarh: The suspicious blast at the Gurdaspur city police station is not an isolated case in Punjab. Over the past year, the state police have been grappling with such incidents wherein the miscreants, often tasked by various banned organisations, have targeted police and other establishments.
Over the last three months, three such blasts have occurred in the state, all initially dismissed by police as non-terror incidents. Since September 2024, at least 21 suspicious grenade attacks have been reported in the state, of which 15 have been on police installations.
A gangster, Varinder Singh, was neutralised in police action on September 28, who had hurled a grenade at a liquor vend on the outskirts of Nawanshahr city.
Police had named him in the FIR registered at the Sadar police station.
Through an unverified social media post shared from an unauthenticated page of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), fugitive gangsters Gopi Nawanshahria, Mannu Agwan and Zeeshan Akhtar took responsibility for the attack, claiming that the liquor vend owners were asked to shut the shop permanently as it was causing nuisance in the area.
On August 7, unidentified miscreants threw explosives at another liquor vend in Nawashahr, and the BKI claimed responsibility for it.
On November 16, a post by BKI also claimed responsibility for throwing a grenade at the Talwara police station of Hoshiarpur district on social media; however, police never acknowledged the incident.
According to a senior Punjab Police functionary, the pro-Khalistan militant group known as the Khalistan Liberation Army (KLA), which has claimed responsibility for hurling a grenade at Gurdaspur police station, is believed to be an offshoot of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). “The KLA’s leadership structure and current head are not publicly known. Many gangsters sometimes try to misguide the police by claiming responsibility for some little-known organisations,” the official added, pleading anonymity.
