'Blast-like' sound heard near closed police post in Amritsar, police say no grenade blast

Chandigarh, Feb 3 (PTI) A "blast-like" sound was heard near a "non-functional" police post at the Fatehgarh Churian road bypass in Punjab's Amritsar district on Monday evening, causing panic in the area.

Denying any grenade blast, police said they were investigating the incident.

Senior police officers, including Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the noise may not have been caused by a grenade blast, but the police are not ruling out the possibility entirely.

"The impact is negligible, and the first impression does not indicate a blast," said Bhullar. "However, we are investigating the matter from all angles to determine the cause of the noise." Speaking to the media in Amritsar, Bhullar said a team of policemen, deputed at a check post on the Fatehgarh Churian road bypass on the outskirts of Amritsar, heard the sound and immediately rushed to the spot.

He clarified that there was no police post on the ground, as everyone is well aware that it was closed months ago.

"Police had put up a check post here. Policemen were checking vehicles. They heard some sound towards GT road. When they checked, they found that there was some damage to the road on the bypass," Bhullar said.

He said, "We are investigating the incident. We will call a forensic team to get it checked." Denying any grenade attack in the incident, Bhullar said had there been a grenade attack, then would that have been such an impact.

The police have inspected the spot, and preliminary findings indicate that even the nearby wall was not affected by the incident, he said.

If there was a grenade attack, then would there be no damage to a wall nearby, he asked the media.

"I have seen that there is some impact on the upper layer of the road. There was no impact on the wall nearby," said Bhullar while sharing details about the preliminary investigation.

After inspecting the spot, Bhullar said he has not yet seen the impact of any grenade attack.

"But we are deeply investigating the incident," said the police commissioner.

He urged citizens not to panic and warned rumour mongers against spreading rumors or creating unnecessary terror.

Notably, on January 28, police had arrested two persons, who were allegedly involved in the hand grenade lobbying incident outside the Gumtala police post in Amritsar.

On January 9, a loud boom was heard outside the Gumtala police post in Amritsar district.

Police at that time had denied any explosion and had claimed that the sound was that of a car radiator exploding.

Following the incident, terrorist organisation Babbar Khalsa International had used a social media platform to claim responsibility for this terror act.

In December last year, a grenade blast had occurred outside the Islamabad police station in Amritsar. Thereafter, a grenade attack took place outside the Bakshiwala police post in Gurdaspur district. PTI CHS VSD NB NB