E-Paper
Golden Temple bomb threats: Faridabad engineer detained
However, hours after police announced details of the detention of Dubey, SGPC chief secretary Kulwant Singh Manan disclosed that a fresh email had been received issuing a threat to the Golden Temple.
Punjab Police on Friday detained a 24-year-old software engineer, Shubham Dubey, from Faridabad in Haryana in connection with the recent emails sent to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), threatening to blow up the Golden Temple with RDX.
However, hours after police announced details of the detention of Dubey, SGPC chief secretary Kulwant Singh Manan disclosed that a fresh email had been received issuing a threat to the Golden Temple.
Addressing a press conference, Amritsar commissioner of police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said Dubey is a BTech-degree holder and has worked with two software companies but is currently unemployed.
“Dubey has been brought to Amritsar by the police on the basis of a major lead we got with the help of central agencies and the state cyber-crime cell. We are investigating his role in sending threatening emails. He is being questioned. However, this is a partial success in this case. We are awaiting information from internet service providers. We have sent them requests for the same. A sizeable amount of information is yet to come,” Bhullar said.
The police have also recovered all the equipment of Dubey, including a laptop and mobile phones, which have been sent for examination.
“A sizeable part of the content in the emails is related to Tamil Nadu, and they also talk about the DMK and girl students of Anna University. We are checking the role of Dubey to get a breakthrough,” he said.
Five emails of bomb threats were received by the SGPC in three days from July 14, after which the gurdwara body president, Harjinder Singh Dhami, expressed concern and disappointment with the police for failing to trace the sender.
SGPC chief secretary said, “The police should probe the matter thoroughly.”
After the Golden Temple complex received a bomb threat on Wednesday, security agencies deployed a dog squad at the premises as part of a security check.
The threats led Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann to urge people on Thursday to be wary of rumours and assert that the state government would not allow any compromise with security. “We will not allow any compromise on the security of Punjab. Our security agencies and the Punjab Police are fully alert. I appeal to the people of Punjab to be cautious of rumours. All religious places are sacred and revered by us. We are fully committed to their security. Anti-national and anti-social forces will be dealt with utmost strictness,” Mann posted on X.
Meanwhile, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla visited the holiest Sikh shrine and met Manan and SGPC secretary Pratap Singh.
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, also paid obeisance at the Golden Temple and expressed concern over the threats.
Bajwa demanded that an all-party meeting be called by CM Mann on the issue and necessary measures should be taken with utmost priority. Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj called upon the Punjab and central investigative agencies to immediately identify and expose the person behind this act.
“Despite modern technology and the availability of all necessary resources with the governments, the actual culprit has still not been definitively identified,” he said.
