A powerful explosion rocked a private hospital in Kalanaur township, around 25 km from Gurdaspur, on Tuesday afternoon. The blast took place at Multani Hospital. No casualties were reported, police officials said.
In a major breakthrough, the Gurdaspur police and the Counter-Intelligence wing claimed to have solved the case within six hours of the incident by arresting the main accused. The police, who had initially refrained from disclosing the nature of the explosion, later said it was caused by a grenade. “We acted on technical and human intelligence inputs to crack the case,” said Gurdaspur SSP Aditya.
Interestingly, the police have not disclosed the identity of the accused, saying that doing so could hamper further investigations.
Earlier, SSP Aditya, accompanied by a team of senior officers, rushed to the site of the incident, which occurred around 2.30 pm. “We are investigating the case. A team of senior officers has been deputed to look into the sequence of events leading to the explosion. We have credible information in the case,” said the SSP. The impact of the blast was so powerful that it shattered window panes and glass doors of the hospital.
The responsibility for the explosion has been claimed by foreign-based gangster Jaswinder Singh, alias Manu Agwan. Forensic teams have been deployed to collect evidence from the spot. The entire area has been sealed off as part of the investigation.
The police are examining CCTV footage from the vicinity of the hospital. An officer said the footage showed a suspicious youth loitering around the hospital for some time before the blast took place.
However, it could not be immediately confirmed whether the explosion was linked to an extortion demand or any other motive.
