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After NIA, NSG team in Amritsar to probe two low-intensity blasts
A day after a team of the NIA reached Amritsar to probe the twin blasts that rocked Heritage Street near Golden Temple with 30 hours, sleuths of the National Security Guard inspected the site on Tuesday.
AMRITSAR
A day after a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) reached Amritsar to probe the twin blasts that rocked Heritage Street near Golden Temple with 30 hours, sleuths of the National Security Guard (NSG) inspected the site on Tuesday.
The team of NSG, a counter-terrorism unit under the ministry of home affairs, visited the blast site and also held meeting with senior officials. On Monday night, a team of NIA had joined the investigation.
The first explosion took place on May 6 night on Heritage Street in which one person was injured and glass facades of some buildings in the area were damaged. The second low-intensity blast took place in the same area on May 8 morning injuring one more person.
Punjab Police officials said they have not found any trigger device or detonator from the area that may have been used.
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday said the terror angle could not be ruled out in the twin blasts. “We are taking help of all agencies like the National Security Guard, which has specialisation in blast investigation,” he said.
A senior official of the Amritsar police commissionerate, who is part of the investigation, said the NIA and NSG teams are helping the local police to crack the case. “So far, no agency has taken over the case. The probe is being handled by Amritsar police,” he said.
A team of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) had also taken the samples from the blast site. “We are waiting for the forensic report to know about the nature of the blasts,” said commissioner of police Naunihal Singh.
Another senior police official said: “We are not certain what was used for the explosions. Our investigation will move further once the FSL report is received.”
The police have also questioned around 100 who claimed to be eyewitnesses, the official said.
“The locations where the blasts took place were not in the range of CCTV cameras. Identifying a suspect out of thousands of people who visit the Heritage Street is a daunting task,” said the official.
Heavy police force and paramilitary forces, including Rapid Action Force (RAF) remained deployed at Heritage Street on Tuesday. The forces also conduced flag marches to instil the sense of security among the people.
Police have not made public the first information report (FIR) of the case, which is registered under the Explosives Act at the E-Division police station, it is learnt.
