AMRITSAR: Unidentified assailants reportedly lobbed a grenade at the Hindu temple, Thakurdwara, located in the Khandwala area, here on Saturday at around 12.35 am.
Fortunately, no loss of life or injuries have been reported. However, some portions of the temple building was damaged in the incident.
According to CCTV footage, two attackers, carrying a flag, arrived on a motorcycle and threw an object onto the first floor of the temple, which later exploded, and fled .
Police, forensic teams , and other investigation agencies arrived at the scene of the blast and covered the damaged portion of the temple building with a curtain. It is reported that the priest of the temple was sleeping inside but had a narrow escape.
Amritsar’s police commissioner, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, said that the temple priests informed the police about the incident at around 2 am. While no loss of life has been reported, Bhullar confirmed that a part of the building was damaged in the attack.
He said he visited the site to assess the situation and began investigations, adding that police personnel have been deployed around Thakurdwara to restore a sense of security among local residents.
Bhullar, informed that preliminary investigations suggest that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) could be behind these attacks, as they have been involved in similar incidents in the past. He explained that the ISI often targets economically disadvantaged youth, enticing them to participate in such activities.
Based on CCTV footage, he said police teams are actively tracking the assailants. When questioned about the flag carried by the attackers, he said that it is part of the ongoing investigation, but declined to disclose further details, citing concerns that releasing such information could hinder the investigation.
“We are in control of the situation,” Bhullar said, adding that similar incidents have been successfully traced in the past, and they are confident of resolving this case soon as well.
Since November 2024, there have been around a dozen incidents of grenade attacks in Punjab targeting police posts and the homes of police personnel, but this is the first incident where a temple has been targeted.