NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

Police suspect Punjab ultras were behind Jalandhar blast

Punjab police chief Sarbjit Singh, on Tuesday, hinted at the possibility of the involvement of the Jammu-based terrorist outfit Khalistan Zindabad Force in the bomb blast in a bus on the outskirts of Jalandhar on Monday evening, in which seven people died and 22 were wounded.

In an informal talk with reporters in the civil hospital in Jalandhar, the Director General of Police said the explosion appeared to be similar to the ones which occurred in a bus at Pathankot in 1997 and the Jhelum Express between Sirhind and Ambala last year. He said if the past record of similar blasts was any indication it could be handiwork of KZF headed by Pakistan-based Ranjit Singh Neeta, who was sighted in Punjab in March this year.

Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal said the blast should not be taken as an indication of a revival of terrorism in the state. ''People of Punjab want peace and will not allow revival of terrorism,'' he added. He suspected the hand of Kashmiri militants in the blast.

KZF has been operating in tandem with Kashmiri militants and has been active along the Jammu-Pathankot belt, police said.

Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, Punjab Medical Education Minister Manoranjan Kalia and Sarbjit Singh accompanied Badal when he visited the victims of the blast in the civil hospital. Seventeen of the 22 wounded have been admitted to the hospital.

Bus conductor Daljit Singh, Mohanjit Singh and Satpal were convalescing in the Sacred Heart Charitable Hospital and two others were undergoing treatment in Sidhu Hospital in the city.

Badal announced an ex-gratia of Rs 100,000 each for the families of the seven who died in the incident. The wounded would be given Rs 25,000 each and the cost of their treatment would be borne by the state government.

Badal ordered shifting of Amritsar-resident Raju and Jalandhar-resident Sarabjit Kaur to Ludhiana's Dayanand Medical College Hospital in view of their serious condition.

The owners of the bus, Pritam Bus Service, in which the blast occurred extended cash assistance of Rs 10,000 each for the bereaved families and gave Rs 5000 each to the wounded.

UNI

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report