Ludhiana/Chandigarh (TIP): A blast at the Ludhiana district courts complex on Thursday, Dec 23, killed one person and injured six others, including three women, prompting the Punjab government to declare a high alert in the state as the police preliminary investigations suggested it to be an act of terror. Police suspect that the man killed in the blast in the second-floor toilet was trying to assemble or plant the explosive device. Ludhiana commissioner of police Gurpreet Bhullar said, “The body of the deceased has not been removed from the site so that investigation and crime scene is not hampered with till the National Security Guard (NSG) team from Delhi reaches.”

According to the internal communication of the Punjab Police headquarters to the field officers, there was possibility of grenade attacks and hence the security arrangements should be reviewed and beefed up. “There are specific inputs from various sources that grenades may be used to target police stations, government buildings and religious places,” the communication said.

The blast occurred on a day when the advocates were on a strike and the footfall was lesser than normal. The explosion ripped apart the wall of the washroom and shattered windowpanes of lawyers’ chambers as well as of more than a dozen cars parked near the building.

Amid utter chaos and panic, police cordoned off the area and evacuated people. An advocate, Gurbakshish Bedi, said he was in the lift at the time of blast and he thought there was an earthquake or the lift had broken. Another advocate Harjot Singh said he was on the second floor and going towards his chamber when he heard a loud thud. “There was dust all around. The blast sent two women flying in the air. There was a strong smell of potassium all around,” he said.

Two of the injured women Sandeep Kaur (31) and Sharanjit Kaur (25) stated that they blacked out soon after the blast and just remember people rescuing them. Sandeep is a photostat operator and Sharanjithad come for a court hearing.

An FIR under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 124A (sedition), 120B (criminal conspiracy); sections 3, 4 and 5 of Explosive Substances Act, sections 3, 4 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, sections 13, 15, 16 and 18 of UAPA Act has been registered against unidentified accused at Division 5 police station.

Meanwhile, senior police officials are of the opinion that the blast may be the handiwork of the same module that had hired two persons to carry tiffin bombs in Jalalabaad of Fazilka district in September this year. The bombs had exploded mid-way resulting in the death of one person who was supposed to plant it in a nearby market.                Source: HT