Blast At Amritsar Temple: Police Suspect ISI Role, Bittu Urges Amit Shah As Mann Rules Out Law & Order Issue

A bomb attack occurred at Thakur Dwara temple in Amritsar, Punjab. The attackers hurled an explosive device at the temple, causing damage to its wall and shattering window panes.

By : ABP Live News | Updated at : 16 Mar 2025 12:24 AM (IST)

Amritsar: Police personnel stand guard in front of a temple after a blast, in Amritsar's Khandwala area, Saturday, March 15, 2025.
Source : PTI

A blast occurred outside the Thakur Dwar temple in Punjab's Amritsar around midnight, causing damage to a portion of its wall and shattering window panes, officials said on Saturday. The explosion, which was captured on CCTV, was triggered when an unidentified attacker on a motorcycle hurled an explosive device towards the temple before fleeing the scene. While no injuries were reported, the incident sparked panic among residents in the Khandwala area.  

Punjab Police suspect the involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the attack and have launched an investigation, news agency PTI reported. Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the police were alerted about the blast at around 2 am on Saturday by the temple priest. CCTV footage revealed that two unidentified persons on a motorcycle, which had a flag attached, approached the temple. One of them disembarked and hurled an explosive device before both fled.  

“Our teams are following them. Like we had traced earlier incidents, this incident will also be traced,” Bhullar said. He cautioned youth against falling into the trap of ISI. “All the previous incidents have been traced, and the accused have been arrested. It came to the fore that the accused belonged to economically weaker families and did all this for money. I want to warn them not to destroy their lives. The police will take strictest action against them,” he added, as quoted by PTI.  

Unconfirmed reports suggested that a grenade was used in the attack. A forensic team has collected samples from the scene, and the nature of the explosives will be determined after examination, Bhullar stated. Security in the area has been heightened, and the police have covered the damaged wall with a green net.  

Amritsar Temple Blast: As CM Mann Rules Out Law & Order Problem, Union MoS Bittu Appeals To Amit Shah

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann condemned the incident, attributing it to “fissiparous forces” attempting to disrupt peace in the state. “Many attempts have been made from time to time to disturb Punjab, but the state police have taken timely action against such elements. Punjab is completely safe in terms of law and order,” he told reporters in Chandigarh.  

In a statement, Mann said, “Being a border state, a number of forces inimical to Punjab have been chalking out nefarious designs to disturb the hard-earned peace. However, the vigilant Punjab Police has always foiled such attempts.” He stressed that law and order in Punjab was better than in other states.  

The incident has triggered a political row, with opposition parties accusing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of failing to maintain law and order. Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu posted on X, “I strongly condemn the bomb attack on Thakur Dwara temple, Khandwala in Amritsar. AAP government fails to check repeated incidents of blasts in the border city. Deteriorating law and order in Punjab is a matter of serious concern.”  

In the video, Bittu remarked "... Cases of bomb blasts and kidnapping have become a regular thing in Punjab... When the situation here turns similar to Balochistan or Pakistan, will you express concern then?... You need to pay attention to the groupism among the Police force... Have you ever visited the Secretariat?... You take Cabinet meetings at your house. Work can not be done this way..."

"You are not concerned about the message going out into the world that there's disbalance in Punjab... I will ask the Home Minister (Amit Shah) to wake up the Chief Minister and the DGP; otherwise, they will ruin Punjab," he remarked.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring also condemned the attack. “Yet another grenade attack in Amritsar, this time targeting a temple in the Khandwala area. There is an atmosphere of fear prevailing in Punjab, and people are genuinely feeling insecure. It's high time the @AAPPunjab government wakes up from its deep slumber and takes action,” he wrote on X.  

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia called the incident a law and order failure, while senior party leader Daljit Singh Cheema demanded a judicial probe. “This is the 13th such blast in the area and is proof of the complete collapse of law and order in the state,” Cheema said.  

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh sought a CBI investigation into the attack. “While police stations were attacked earlier, the targeting of a Hindu temple with a grenade is a serious and alarming development. There appears to be a deliberate attempt to create communal and social divisions in the state,” he said, as per PTI.  

Meanwhile, Mann linked the incident to broader attempts to destabilise Punjab. “Problems of drugs, gangsters, and ransom calls are also part of efforts to portray Punjab as a disturbed state. But our Punjab Police constantly takes timely action against anti-social elements,” he said, adding that the Border Security Force (BSF) informed the state government that drone activity from across the border had reduced by 70 per cent since the launch of an anti-drugs drive.  

Police investigations are ongoing to identify and apprehend the attackers.

Published at : 15 Mar 2025 08:18 PM (IST)
Tags :
Amritsar Bhagwant Mann Ravneet Singh Bittu ISI Punjab Police Amritsar News AMIT SHAH Amritsar Temple Blast

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