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Tarn Taran blast: NSG team inspects site, police round up 100 suspects
Harpreet Singh (19) of Bachre village and Bikram Singh (22) of Kaddgill village in Tarn Taran died on the spot, while Gurjant Singh, 27, of Kadgill was injured in the explosion on Wednesday night.
A National Security Guard (NSG) team along with Punjab Police on Friday inspected the site at Tarn Taran district’s Pandoori Gola village where a blast took place two days ago, and recorded statements of people living in the nearby areas.
Harpreet Singh (19) of Bachre village and Bikram Singh (22) of Kaddgill village in Tarn Taran died on the spot, while Gurjant Singh, 27, of Kadgill was injured in the explosion on Wednesday night. The three were digging earth either to excavate or hide the explosives as a spade was found at the spot, police had said.
Goindwal Sahib deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Ravinderpal Singh said, “Besides the NSG team, other agencies also inspected the site.”
On Thursday, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team also visited the spot. “The NIA team was here just to take forensic samples to ascertain the exact nature of the blast,” senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dhruv Dahiya said.
‘SUSPECTS ARE LIKELY HAVE SEPARATIST LINKS’
The Punjab Police’s crime investigation agency (CIA) wing rounded up more than 100 suspects in connection with the case, but no one was arrested. Most of those rounded up are suspected to have involvement in separatist activities, sources said.
CIA wing in-charge Harit Sharma said more raids are being conducted to question more suspects.
Inspector general of police (IGP border range, Amritsar) Surinderpal Singh Parmar said, “We are investigating the radical angle in the case.”
Another senior police official said, “The probe has revealed that three more persons were involved in the blast. One is Harjit Singh of Pandoori Gola and the other is Manpreet Singh of Muradpura village in the district. But the identity of the third is yet to be ascertained. Efforts are being made to arrest the three who are involved in radical activities. We have found that money was transferred to Manpreet’s account by pro-Khalistan activists abroad.”
On Wednesday, police recovered a rifle, some cartridges and nearly 70 notes of ₹1 denomination in a raid at Harjit’s residence. The police are investigating whether the rifle recovered was licensed or not.
“Gurjant and Bikramjit had links with some Sikh radicals. Bikram’s younger brother Nishan Singh (24) is in Dubai while Gurjant’s younger brother Beant Singh (25) is in some other country. We are also examining their call details and bank accounts,” a police official said on Thursday.
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Tarn Taran blast took place
while making bomb: Capt
Press Trust of India
letterschd@hindustantimes.com
CHANDIGARH
The two people who were killed in a blast in Punjab’s border district of Tarn Taran were trying to make a bomb in a bottle, chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh said on Friday.
“The three people were digging a pit on Wednesday night and were trying to make a bomb in a bottle with a mixture of some chemicals that exploded,” said the CM at Batala in Gurdaspur district.
“We will find out who were making these bombs, how were they being made and for whom these bombs were being made. It will be known,” the CM said.
On Thursday, DGP Dinkar Gupta said police cannot rule out terror angle in the blast at this stage.
Investigation agencies have found two pits in the agricultural field and were examining the call details and scanning the bank accounts of the trio.
