Amritsar grenade attack: Role of Satkar Committee under scanner in blast at Nirankari Bhawan, say police

A senior police officer said, “A tussle between the followers of the Nirankari sect and members of Satkar Committee has been going on for the last few months. We are investigating the role of members of Satkar Committee.”

Police said they are also probing the role of Satkar Committee, a radical Sikh outfit, in a grenade blast at a congregation at Nirankari Bhawan in Amritsar’s Rajasansi on Sunday that killed 3 people and injured 20 besides looking at the terror angle.

The Nirankari Bhawan at Adliwal village, near Rajasansi, Amritsar, where a grenade blast on Sunday, November 18, 2018, killed three people. (Sameer Sehgal / HT Photo)

Director general of police (DGP) Suresh Arora, who inspected the spot with senior police officers, said, “Our forensic team has left from Chandigarh. A team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) is also arriving on Tuesday.”

He said, “We are taking it as an act of terror because the attack was against a group, and not against an individual.”

A senior police officer, who was at the spot, said, “A tussle between the followers of the Nirankari sect and members of Satkar Committee has been going on for the last few months. We are investigating the role of members of Satkar Committee.”

Superintendent of police (SP headquarters) Harpal Singh said, “The followers of the Nirankari sect wanted to construct another building at Tapiala village of Amritsar with the Satkar Committee opposing the move.”