Crime & Justice

At least 1 dead, two injured in India court explosion

New Delhi, Dec 23 (EFE).- An explosion inside a court complex in India’s industrial city of Ludhiana Thursday killed one person and injured two, officials said.

Ludhiana Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the explosion took place on the second floor of the court complex in the city, an important industrial hub in the northern state of Punjab that battled years of a deadly Sikh separatist campaign in the 1980s.

“One person has died and two others were injured in the incident,” Bhullar told the media.

He said police sealed the building to let forensic teams collect samples from the explosion site.

The city police chief declined to comment on the nature of the explosion, saying it is “very difficult to say anything” since the investigation was underway.

He said such an act was to disturb peace and order in the state where regional elections are due early next year.

Punjab, India’s only Sikh majority state, shares its border with Pakistan.

Indian officials usually blame Pakistan, the country’s arch-enemy, for such a type of violent incidents.

India alleges Pakistan is supporting Sikh separatists in Punjab, an accusation Islamabad denies.

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the elected head of the state government, told the media shortly after the explosion that the authorities were on alert.

“Some anti-national and anti-state forces are trying to commit such dastardly acts and for this the government is alert and the people should also be alert,” Channi said.

He said the culprits would not be spared.

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the explosion in the court complex.

Punjab has seen a wave of tension recently after two men were killed in two separate lynching incidents last weekend.

A man was beaten to death on Sunday after several residents of the town of Khapurtala saw him entering a Sikh temple allegedly to steal.

Just a day earlier, another man was lynched by a mob at the Golden Temple in the northern city of Amritsar, allegedly after attempting to desecrate the Sikh holy book, “Guru Granth Sahib.” EFE

ssk-daa/ssk

Related Articles

Back to top button