Amritsar grenade attack: Police detain two students as suspects

AMRITSAR: Bathinda police on Tuesday arrested two students suspected behind Sunday`s grenade attack on a prayer meeting of the Nirankari sect in Amritsar.

The students were arrested from a paying guest house on Bathinda's Ajit road. The duo failed to show their identification proofs and are currently being questioned by the police.

Two motorcycle-borne men, with long beards, threw the grenade on a religious congregation on city outskirt inside the Nirankari Bhavan's prayer hall at Adliwal village near Amritsar's Rajasansi on the city outskirts on Sunday.

The grenade was lobbed by one of the two people who had their faces covered. One person pointed a gun at the volunteers manning the gate, while the other hurled the grenade towards the stage where the main preacher Sukhdev Kumar was present and then escaped, police and eyewitnesses said. 

Three people had died in the incident and 20 were injured.

The Sant Nirankari Mission is a spiritual organisation and the Bhavan here is located close to the international airport and Indo-Pak border.

On Monday, police confirmed the role of two local youths in the attack. The youth reportedly surveyed the ashram premises twice and were aware that religious congregation takes place every Sundays. 

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh also said that the investigating agencies have got "some leads" and would soon catch the culprits.

Talking to media persons after visiting the blast site, Singh said, "We are taking this blast very seriously. A full investigation is going on. Some leads have been found and I am hopeful that we will soon catch the culprits."