Amritsar Grenade Attack: Three killed in prayer gathering
Two masked men brandishing a pistol forced their way into a weekly congregation of the Nirankari sect and threw a grenade into the prayer hall. The Amritsar grenade attack resulted in the death of 3 people. 19 were injured near Amritsar.
The issue is suspected to be religious. The Nirankaris are considered to be heretics orthodox Sikhs. They have long been in the crosshairs of the Sikh community. Their conflict with the sect in the 1970s resulted in the assassination of Nirankari chief Gurbachan Singh. This was one of the flashpoints of the Khalistan movement.
CM Amarinder Singh said that this was the first attempt, in a long time, to disturb peace in the state through indiscriminate killing. The hand of ISI- backed Khalistani or Kashmiri terror groups were also not ruled out. For some time, intelligence agencies have been warning about ISI seeking to revive its ‘K2’ – plan to balkanise India.
The CM said, “Police teams have been rushed to raid suspected hideouts of the assailants and multiple teams are probing various angles.”
The devotees had gathered for a satsang at the Rajasansi branch of Nirankari Bhawan at Adliwal village in Amritsar district. An initial probe has revealed that two men with covered faces, one of them with a flowing beard, forced their way into the site.
They detained the sewadar (attendant), lobbed a grenade into the room and fled on a motorcycle. This is how the Amritsar Grenade attack happened. The blast led to the formation of a 3-inch crater. A forensic team has recovered the safety pin of the grenade used in the strike.
Amarinder has announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the three men killed in the attack.
The victims of the Amritsar grenade incident have been identified as Sandeep Singh, Sukhdev Kumar and Kuldeep Singh. Two of the injured are in critical condition.
