Amritsar: Amarinder Singh suspects ISI hand in grenade attack on Nirankari meet

Three people were killed and 19 others injured when two motorcycle-borne masked youths threw a grenade at a religious congregation of Nirankari sect in Rajasansi area in Punjab's Amritsar district on Sunday.

Three persons were killed and 20 injured in a grenade attack on a religious congregation inside the Nirankari Bhavan at Adliwal village near Amritsar's Rajasansi. PTI Photo

AMRITSAR: Three people were killed and 19 others injured when two motorcycle-borne masked youths threw a grenade at a religious congregation in Rajasansi area in Punjab's Amritsar district on Sunday. Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora said the grenade attack in Amritsar appears to be "terrorist act". "It (this incident) appears to have a terror angle. Because it is against a group (of people) and it is not against any individual. There is no reason to throw a hand grenade on a group of people, so we will take it as a terrorist act. Till proven otherwise, prima facie we will take it as that," Suresh Arora said. To a question, the DGP said there was no specific input about any possible attack on Nirankari Bhavan. "There was no issue with this group as such. There was no specific input on (Nirankari Bhavan)," he said. The attack took place on the Nirankari Satsang Bhawan of the Nirankari sect in Adliwal village near Amritsar's Rajasansi, which is close to the international airport. The sect campus is located in Amritsar's rural belt. The preliminary investigations have revealed that two men - one of them with a flowing beard and both with their faces covered - forced their entry into the hall, brandishing a pistol, an official statement said. They detained the sewadar, lobbed the grenade into the prayer room and fled on a motorcycle on which they had come. Amarinder sees Pakistan hand behind Amritsar attack Chief Minister Amarinder Singh suspected Pakistan's ISI-backed Khalistani or Kashmiri militants' role in the Amritsar terror attack and vowed that he would not let the "forces of terror" destroy the state's "hard-earned peace". "The possibility of involvement of ISI-backed Khalistani or Kashmiri terror groups could not be ruled out (in the Amritsar terror attack)," said Amarinder Singh in an official statement, adding the forensic teams have been rushed to the spot and "all angles were being investigated". The chief minister said his government was on the top of things" and would "get to the bottom of the incident" soon and ensure that the culprits are nabbed and brought to book. "Nobody will be allowed to get away with trying to disturb the peace and harmony of the state," he said. After the attack, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh reviewed the law and order situation and directed the Home Secretary, DGP (Law and Order) and DG Intelligence to rush to Rajasansi to supervise investigations. Opposition questions ruling Congress Opposition leader and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal slammed the Congress government for failing to maintain the "peace and communal harmony" in Punjab. "Peace and communal harmony in danger in Punjab under the Congress rule. First Maqsudan blast, then army chief asserting need for alertness, now an attack in Amritsar. The Congress government should not play with fire and act to ensure Punjab does not slip back into the vortex of violence," Badal, the former deputy chief minister, tweeted. Rajnath Singh vows strongest action against perpetrators Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Sunday spoke to Amarinder Singh and took stock of the situation arising out the Amritsar grenade attack. Singh also vowed to take the strongest possible action against the perpetrators of the crime. "Spoke to the Chief Minister of Punjab, @capt_amarinder ji who has apprised me of the situation in the wake of grenade attack in Amritsar. Strongest possible action will be taken against the perpetrators of this crime (sic)," the home minister tweeted. Punjab was already on high alert Punjab was on an alert following an input that a group of six to seven JeM terrorists were reportedly in the state, possibly in Ferozepur area. The state was put on alert after four persons snatched an SUV from its driver at gunpoint near Madhopur in Pathankot district last week. The Punjab Police, along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police, had recently busted two modules of Kashmiri students who were studying in institutions in Punjab and having links to terrorist outfits in troubled Kashmir. Posters of Kashmiri terrorist Zakir Mussa had mysteriously appeared in Punjab's Gurdaspur district on Friday saying that he had been seen in Punjab. (With inputs from PTI)