Amritsar grenade attack: Punjab govt announces Rs 50 lakh reward for information leading to suspects

The statement released by the media adviser to Punjab CM says that the identity of the informer will be kept secret for safety purposes. Information can be provided at Police helpline number 181.

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Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh (File)

Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh Monday announced a reward of Rs 50 lakh for any information leading to the arrest of the suspects involved in the blast at a religious congregation in Amritsar.

A statement released by the media adviser to the Punjab CM states that the identity of the informer will be kept secret. Those with information can call the police helpline number 181. The NIA team, along with their investigators and explosive experts, visited the blast site late last night and held discussions with the Punjab DGP and DG Intelligence, the statement read.

Three persons were killed and 21 injured in a grenade attack on a Nirankari sect congregation at Adliwala village, on the outskirts of Amritsar, on Sunday afternoon. While police said it appeared to be a “terrorist act”, the chief minister said the “possibility of involvement of ISI-backed Khalistani/ Kashmiri terror groups could not be ruled out”.

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Amarinder also warned against any attempts to “disturb the peace and harmony of the state”. “Though the state had been hit by a series of cases of targeted attacks since 2015/16, this was the first attempt, in a long time, to disturb the peace in the state through indiscriminate killings,” he said.

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“It strengthened the belief that Pakistan is continuing with its nefarious activities to disturb the state’s peace,” he said. “Fifteeen such terror modules have been busted in the last 18 months, with Kashmiri terror links also indicated in some instances, as evidenced in the arrest of Kashmiri students from Jalandhar and in the Maqsudan police station grenade blast case,” he said.

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The chief minister has announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the victims.

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