Hindustan Times (Bathinda)

Blast at Punjab intel HQ in Mohali; RPG used, say cops

No report of injury to anyone; ‘rocket-like thing’ fired at building around 7.45 pm, says Mohali SP (headquarte­rs) ; terror attack not ruled out

- Ravinder Vasudeva and Hillary Victor letterschd@hindustant­imes.com

CHANDIGARH : An explosion, believed to be a result of a suspected rocket propelled grenade (RPG) attack, took place at the Punjab Police intelligen­ce headquarte­rs in Mohali on Monday night, shattering windowpane­s on one of the floors of the building.

No one, however, was injured in the explosion, The police have cordoned off the area and an alert has been sounded.

“A rocket-like thing was fired at the building around 7.45 pm. No casualty or loss reported. Our senior officers and forensic teams are investigat­ing it,” Mohali SP (headquarte­rs) Ravinder Pal Singh Sandhu told reporters. He said an FIR was being lodged over the incident. Asked if it was a terror attack, he said the investigat­ion was going on. A quick response team has been deputed.

The blast comes on a day when Punjab intelligen­ce wing asked the law enforcemen­t agencies in the state to beef up security following the receipt of two letters from a commander of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-mohammad, threatenin­g to target the VIPS in the state and blow up major installati­ons. On Sunday, police had arrested two persons with an improvised explosive device packed with around 1.5kg of RDX following a tip-off in Tarn Taran district. The explosion also comes close on the heels of the recovery of an explosive device near Burail Jail in Chandigarh on April 24

A senior intelligen­ce official, who inspected the spot, said that prima-facie a grenade-like thing hit the wall just adjacent to the windows. “May be it was not properly propelled and probably that was the reason it didn’t result in a major damage,” said an Adgp-rank officer.

Punjab DGP VK Bhawra while talking to HT said: “A preliminar­y probe has revealed that something was fired at the intelligen­ce headquarte­rs from a distance. It hit an office table and caused some damage.”

The building houses highly strategic wings of Punjab Police.

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 ?? KESHAV SINGH/HT ?? (Clockwise) Punjab Police personnel stand guard after the attack; the object found at the blast site and the smashed windowpane­s of the building housing the Punjab Intelligen­ce headquarte­rs in Sector 77 in Mohali on Monday.
KESHAV SINGH/HT (Clockwise) Punjab Police personnel stand guard after the attack; the object found at the blast site and the smashed windowpane­s of the building housing the Punjab Intelligen­ce headquarte­rs in Sector 77 in Mohali on Monday.

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