One held for Amritsar grenade attack, CM alleges ISI role
CHANDIGARH: Within 72 hours of the terror incident, the Punjab Police has arrested one person in connection with Sunday’s grenade attack on the Nirankari Satsang Bhawan that killed three persons, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said here on Wednesday.
Amarinder blamed Pakistan’s Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) agency and the Pakistan-based masterminds of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) for the terror attack.
The arrested person has been identified as Bikramjit Singh, 26, a resident of Dhariwal village near Rajasansi area of Amritsar. he said. He was arrested early on Wednesday from near Loharka village in Amritsar district.
The second person involved in the attack, identified as Avtar Singh, is still absconding.
It was Avtar who threw the grenade at the Nirankari prayer meeting on Sunday, leaving three people dead and 15 others injured. Bikramjit had stood at the gate of the Nirankari bhawan premises, holding the gate attendants at gun-point.
The Chief Minister said the grenade used in the blast was Pakistan made, and added that the motorcycle used in the crime has also been recovered.
Amarinder said it was a “terror incident” and there was no religious link to it.
“Bikram, a KLF operative, has given significant information indicating that the grenade was provided to the assailants by one Happy in Pakistan,” Amarinder said.
“Happy is suspected to be the Pakistan-based KLF chief... Harmeet Singh Happy @ PH.D, who had earlier masterminded the conspiracy to carry out targeted killings of RSS/ Shiv Sena/ DSS leaders and workers (and a Christian Pastor) in Ludhiana and Jalandhar in 2016-2017, in active collaboration with Pakistani establishment and the ISI,” he added.
The Chief Minister categorically ruled out any religious motivation behind the attack and described Sunday’s attack on Nirankari Bhawan as “yet another attempt by Pakistan’s ISI and the Pakistan establishment to carry out terrorist actions in Punjab to disturb the peace in the state”.
“It was in ISI’S interest to keep the border disturbed to ensure internal peace in Pakistan,” Amarinder told media here.
“Attempts by Pak ISI and Pak establishment to forge linkages between Punjabi and Kashmiri terrorist groups is a matter of serious security concern for Punjab,” the Chief Minister said, adding that the Punjab Police was working closely with central agencies to check the spread of such forces.
Amarinder said that his government was committed to ensuring that nobody was allowed to disturb the state’s hard-earned peace and harmony.
The Chief Minister pointed out that there had been only two terror attacks in the state in 2018, including the Maqsudan Police Station attack and Sunday’s incident near Amritsar.
“Both were successfully solved by the police, who had also cracked all the cases of targeted killings. The sacrilege cases that had taken place in the last 18 months were also solved,” he said.
Giving details, the Chief Minister said that preliminary investigations and CCTV footage of the incident had led to the arrest of Bikram, who has identified his accomplice as Avtar Singh Khalsa (32 years) of village Chak Mishri Khan, Lopoke (Ajnala) in Amritsar district.