Bhaag Viru Bhaag
Senior Test Player
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2013
- Runs
- 27,678
Blast at Thakurdwara Temple in Punjab’s Amritsar; Opposition wants CM Mann to step down
Police sources say two unidentified motorcycle-borne persons threw a suspected explosive device at the Thakurdwara temple in Khandwala, which damaged its wall
The Punjab Police on Saturday (March 15, 2025) hinted at the involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency after a blast damaged the wall of a temple in Amritsar late on Friday. The Opposition tore into the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government after the blast, blaming it for alleged failure to maintain the law and order situation in the State.
Police sources said two unidentified motorcycle-borne persons threw a suspected explosive device at the Thakurdwara temple in Khandwala, which damaged its wall. The police said no one was injured in the incident.
Amritsar Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said a team was dispatched to the site after they received information about the attack around 2 a.m. on Saturday. “The forensic team was also called in and sampling of the debris was done. The Pakistan’s ISI indulges in such mischief, they lure economically weak youth to carry out such activities,” he told mediapersons.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “The Amritsar incident is handiwork of fissiparous forces that want to destabilise the peace, progress and prosperity of the State.” He said the State government will never allow these forces to succeed in their nefarious designs and all conspiracies will be foiled. The law and order situation in Punjab was much better than other States with the police watching with an eagle eye, he added.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Congress’s Partap Singh Bajwa, sought the resignation of the Chief Minister as he holds the Home portfolio.
“This is the 13th such incident in the border belt of Punjab since mid-November. In the previous incidents, the police stations and police personnel were targeted. In this incident, two bike-borne men threw explosives at the Thakurdwara temple in Amritsar, which could potentially create communal tension in the State,” said Mr. Bajwa.
Mr. Bajwa said that the law and order situation of the State and the police department are the responsibility of the Home Ministry, which is held by Mr. Mann. “It has been established that he is inefficient in handling the Home portfolio. Handling the Ministry is a full-time job but Mr. Mann has been taking it casually. It is high time he quits the position,” he said.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) demanded a judicial probe into the incident “to identify the perpetrators and unearth the conspiracy aimed at disturbing peace and communal harmony in the State”.
Senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the incident, which had hurt religious sentiments of the people, “is proof of complete collapse of law and order in the State”.
Hitting out at the AAP, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu said, “I strongly condemn the bomb attack. The AAP government fails to check repeated incidents of blasts in the border city. Deteriorating law and order in Punjab is matter of serious concern.”
Thakurdwara Temple blast: ‘ISI creating disturbance in Punjab,’ says Amritsar Commissioner
Blast at Thakurdwara Temple in Amritsar, suspected to be an explosive, police investigating, no injuries reported.
