Punjab: Weapon used for Tarn Taran police station attack smuggled from Pakistan, say police
On December 9, a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Sarhali police station located on the Amritsar-Bathinda highway.
The rocket-propelled grenade was used to attack a police station in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district last week had been smuggled from Pakistan, ANI reported, citing the police
Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill made the statement at a press conference three days after the attack.
The rocket-propelled grenade was fired late on December 9 at the Sarhali police station located on the Amritsar-Bathinda highway. It hit the police station’s Saanjh Kendra office, which provides services such as giving copies of first information reports verifying passports.
There were no casualties in the incident, but the window panes of the Saanjh Kendra suffered damage.
On Monday, the inspector general of police told mediapersons that four persons have been detained for allegedly providing logistical support for the attack, PTI reported. Two persons suspected of having fired the grenade are yet to be detained, the police said.
“I cannot disclose any name at this stage,” Gill said. “Identification, detaining of suspects and the process of further identification were going on.”
He said that the police will disclose more details, including the names of the accused persons, in one or two days. The police official also denied that law and order in the state had deteriorated in the state.
“Various narratives are in flow against law and order but the proactiveness of Punjab police has curbed attacks,” he claimed, according to ANI. “Since March, we arrested 110 terrorists and recovered nine tiffin IEDs [improvised explosive devices], seven detonators, 10 hand grenades and 10 drones and more high-end explosive materials were apprehended.”
The attack in Tarn Taran was the second such incident in seven months.
On May 9, a rocket-propelled grenade hit the police intelligence building located in Sector 77 in Mohali, resulting in an explosion and destruction of windowpanes on one floor. There were no casualties from the blast, but a wall of the building was damaged in the incident.