Third blast close to Golden Temple, 5 arrested

Chandigarh, May 11 (IANS) Another low-intensity blast occurred close to Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, on Thursday -- the third explosion in less than a week.

Within hours of the blast, five conspirators were arrested from near the spot and the police claimed that they belonged to a module that was responsible all three explosions in which firecracker explosives were used.

Bikram Singh Majithia General Secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal condemned the attack.

Third blast near Sri Darbar Sahib in #Amritsar & still govt groping in the dark about conspiracy to destabilise peace & communal harmony in Punjab. Stop politics CM @BhagwantMann & arrest divisive forces destroying our peace. #amritsarblast pic.twitter.com/mIt0Nyi0Q8

— Bikram Singh Majithia (@bsmajithia) May 11, 2023

A woman, the wife of one of the suspects, has also been detained, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav told the media in Amritsar.

The accused -- Azadvir Singh, Amreek Singh, Sahib Singh, Harjeet Singh and Dharmendra Singh -- have confessed the crime. Three of them were involved in the sourcing of the explosives.

CCTV footages showed that one of the accused allegedly threw the bomb from the second floor of Guru Ramdas Serai into 'galiara', or the pathway around the Golden Temple.

Yadav thanked the Shriomani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) task force for enabling the arrest of the accused.

"In the first breakthrough (in all three blasts), five people have been arrested. We have formed the SIT (Special Investigating Team) to conduct in-depth and scientific investigation to uncover the conspiracy behind the explosions and also to reveal their (accused) links both within India and abroad," Yadav, who specially reached the spot from Chandigarh, to have first-hand information about the crime.

He said the accused had utilized energy drink cans and metallic tiffins to contain the explosive material.

The first two blasts rocked the busy Heritage Street leading to the Golden Temple. The first took place at around 11.30 pm on May 6, while the second on the morning of May 8.

The third blast is 1.5 km away from the earlier two explosions. One person was injured and glass facades of buildings were damaged in the first blast.

"Whether they (accused) are self-radicalised or influenced by some module, this is a matter of investigation. This module was behind all the three blasts. They also confessed the crime. The CCTV footages, their mobile locations and other evidences corroborated the fact that they were behind the blasts," Yadav said.

Regarding their motive to carry out blasts in the vicinity of the highly revered shrine, he said: "If anything happens in Darbar Sahib (the Golden temple), it makes news. We will examine the motive behind the blasts."

SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami told the media in Amritsar that its security personnel caught three suspects, including a couple, who were staying in Guru Ramdas Serai, based on CCTV footage.

He said three were responsible for the latest explosion and were handed over to the police.

The SGPC manages Sikh places of worship.