A district court complex in Ludhiana, Punjab witnessed a bomb blast, reportedly at 12:22 pm today inside a public bathroom in the building. The court was functioning at that time, and was apparently crowded when the blast took place.
One person has been confirmed as dead, with five others grievously injured at present. According to Ludhiana police chief Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, all five of the injured are “out of danger”. The five include an advocate, a Photostat machine operator, a police officer, and two visitors.
Bhullar informed that a National Security Guard (NSG) team will arrive to inquire into the incident. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team is also likely to visit the explosion site.
Investigations are currently on to determine how the explosives were smuggled into the court complex, bypassing the security arrangments, and by whom. As per Bhullar, it is possible that the deceased person carried the explosives into the complex.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi has condemned the blast, alleging that it was carried out by “some ant-national and anti-Punjab forces” to disrupt law and order ahead of the state’s upcoming assembly elections. Channi promised to take the perpetrators to task, and urged the public to maintain calm. He also promised the medical treatment of the injured free of cost.
Ludhiana’s district administrative complex and mini-secretariat has been evacuated as an emergency precautionary measure. Punjab’s Director General of Police Siddharth Chattopadhyaya has alerted the public to avoid crowded places.
The Union Home Ministry has asked the Punjab government for a detailed report on the matter, to be sent expeditiously. The Punjab government had been reportedly ignoring daily alerts and standard operating procedures from intelligence agencies on countering terror and extremists’ activities in the state. Apparently, the government had been recently given intelligence inputs on the likelihood of interference by radicalized groups in the run up to the elections. The government’s actions against the drug mafia and weapon smugglers have also seemingly not been up to the mark, according to some observers.
The district Bar Association President Gurkirpal Singh Gill has called for security to be beefed up at the complex.
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of India Justice N. V. Ramana expressed deep shock at the incident. Conveying grave concern at the lack of adequate security in court complexes, he articulated hope that the law enforcing agencies will pay necessary attention to ensure protection for the court complexes and all their stakeholders. Such incidents occurring in quick succession across the country is a worrisome trend, he observed. Justice Ramana also called up Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Ravi Shankar Jha and enquired about the development. Justice Ramana offered condolences to the bereaved members of the family of the deceased, and wished for the speedy recovery of those injured.
