Mohali blast: ‘Can’t be ignored…’: Punjab Police on terror angle

Punjab police on Tuesday refused to rule out the terror angle in the suspected rocket-propelled grenade attack yesterday on its headquarters in Mohali. Senior officer Ravinder Pal Singh was quoted by news agency ANI as saying ‘It can’t be ignored. We are investigating it’. Pal Singh, Superintendent of Police (Mohali HQ), also told reporters forensic examinations were underway.

“It can’t be ignored. We are investigating it. It is a minor blast. The attack happened from outside the building. It has been done with rocket-type fire. No casualty or loss happened. Our senior officers and FSL team are investigating it,” he said.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann has said that anyone trying to disturb the peace will be dealt with strictly. “Punjab Police is investigating the explosion in Mohali. Anybody who tries to spoil the atmosphere in Punjab will not be spared,” he tweeted in Punjabi.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party ousted the Congress and swept to power in Punjab in February, also tweeted, calling the blast a ‘cowardly act of those who want to disturb the peace of Punjab’.

READ: Punjab CM on Mohali blast – ‘Those trying to spoil…’ Kejriwal reacts too

On Monday night a ‘minor explosion’ was reported at Punjab Police’s Intelligence HQ in Mohali’s SAS Nagar area. Hours earlier there was reportedly a request to beef up security around the building.

A rocket-propelled grenade, or RPG, shattered windowpanes on one of the floors of the building. No one, however, was injured in the explosion.

The blast comes after two letters were received – reportedly from a commander of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad. 

The letters warned of attacks on railway stations, bridges, places of worship and other major installations, as well as VIPs.

The attack also comes weeks after an explosive device was found in Chandigarh’s Burail jail.

It has also prompted a predictable round of political attacks, with the deposed Congress lashing out; former state home minister and Congress MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa called it ‘a sign of deep communalism’. 

“I strongly condemn this incident and urge the Punjab Police to investigate and take stern action against those who are intent on disturbing the peace of Punjab,” he declared.

With input from ANI, PTI