NEW DELHI: Amid rising concern over the twin blasts in Punjab, political reactions sharpened on Wednesday, with former Jammu-Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah seeking to play down the incidents reported in Amritsar and Jalandhar.
Abdullah, while interacting with reporters in Srinagar, casually said that blasts were not new to India and urged people not to panic. "Hindustan mein blasts hote rehte hain, isme konsi nayi baat hai, ghabariye mat" (Blasts keep happening in the country, there is nothing new. You should not panic), he said.
The remark carries a stark irony, given that Farooq Abdullah served as chief minister of a state long scarred by decades of terrorism and multiple India–Pakistan conflicts.
In Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann described the explosions in Amritsar and Jalandhar as "minor" and alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying to engineer an atmosphere of fear to influence voters. "The BJP wants to create panic so that people vote out of fear. After West Bengal, they are saying it is now Punjab's turn—this suggests these incidents are part of their preparation," Mann said, adding that investigations are underway.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has moved in to assist the Punjab Police, with teams rushing to both sites to gather forensic evidence and reconstruct the sequence behind the back-to-back explosions. The first incident occurred around 8 pm near the Border Security Force's Punjab Frontier headquarters in Jalandhar, triggering panic and damaging a scooter, a traffic signal pole, and nearby shop windows. Police said the scooter, belonging to a delivery worker, caught fire following a loud explosion-like sound, though officials said it was too early to confirm the exact cause.
CCTV footage showed smoke billowing and a person running from the spot moments after the blast, while forensic teams, dog squads, and bomb disposal units were deployed. A senior police officer said the Khalistan Liberation Army has claimed responsibility, with a possible link to Pakistan-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti also under probe.
Roughly three hours later, a second explosion was reported near the Khasa cantonment area in Amritsar at around 10:50 pm, prompting a swift response from police and army personnel. Preliminary findings suggest an explosive object may have been hurled at a boundary wall, though forensic analysis is still underway.
No casualties were reported in either incident, but both sites remain under tight security. The blasts have since triggered a political storm, with opposition leaders including Sukhbir Singh Badal, Partap Singh Bajwa, and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring questioning the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's handling of law and order and pointing to possible intelligence lapses.
With central and state agencies jointly probing the incidents, officials say all angles are being examined as forensic and intelligence inputs are awaited.
