Chandigarh: Ludhiana police commissioner Gurpreet Bhullar said the explosion that rocked the Ludhiana district court premises on Thursday at around 12.22 pm might have been executed by a human bomb.
“Though not confirmed, the person whose body is inside and is yet to be identified was either carrying the bomb or was very close to the same, we are investigating,” Bhullar said. Police have not picked the body and are waiting for the NSG’s bomb disposal squad to investigate the link between the man and the mysterious explosion that took place near the washroom on the second floor of the district court complex in Ludhiana. The CP said the deceased is the prime suspect of the blast.
The blast reportedly took place at 12:22 pm inside a bathroom on the second floor of the building. The explosion damaged the walls of the bathroom and ripped through a section of the building, besides shattering glass in nearby rooms. The district court was crowded and functioning when the explosion took place.
In visuals, injured people were carried out of the building and police were trying to remove people from the complex.
The incident exposes a huge security lapse in a building so close to the District Commissioner of Police’s office in the heart of Ludhiana city. Investigations are focusing on how the explosives were smuggled into the court complex despite security.
A team of the National Investigation Agency or NIA has been sent to the blast site.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was among the first to react to the incident, which has taken place in the middle of a fierce campaign for the Punjab election early next year. In a Twitter post, Mr Singh asked Punjab police to investigate the incident thoroughly.
As Chief Minister earlier this year, Mr Singh had expressed concerns about the threat to the state from Pakistan-backed terror forces and had sought 25 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and anti-drone gadgets for the Border Security Force (BSF) for protection.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal said the blast, and the incidents of sacrilege in which two persons were lynched, were aimed at disrupting peace in Punjab ahead of the polls.
“First sacrilege, now blast. Some people want to destroy the peace in Punjab but we will not allow such plans to succeed. We should stand together,” tweeted Mr Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi.
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