Amarinder Singh says 'ISI masterminded Amritsar blast'

Amritsar, Nov 21: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the grenade used in the attack at a prayer hall in Amritsar, which killed three people, was made in Pakistan. A motorbike-borne man, he said, has been arrested for the attack.

Two days after three persons were killed in a grenade attack on a Nirankari sect congregation at Adliwala village, on the outskirts of Amritsar, the Punjab Police were finally able to crack the case. According to reports, one of the masterminds behind the Amritsar blast case was arrested by the police.

During the interrogation, a Local man confessed that he threw a grenade at the Nirankari Sabha. The plot was revealed in a key audio tape. The attacker further said Pakistan's ISI hand in the Amritsar terror attack.

Briefing the media, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh confirmed the arrest of the accused by the Punjab police. He also said that the second accused has also been identified.

Punjab CM said, "I'm happy to announce that police nabbed one of the two persons involved. 26-year-old Bikramjit Singh has been arrested. The other man will also be arrested soon. His name is Avtar Singh."

The CM ruled out the communal angle in the attack. He said, "There is no communal angle. It's a pure case of terrorism. They were targeted as they were easy targets. We had info in the past about other organisations being targeted but we took precautionary measures & prevented that."

"The person who is the mastermind is Inter-Services Intelligence. These (Harmeet Singh 'PhD' alias Happy) are only touts which they were using, " said the CM.

Earlier on Monday, Amarinder Singh said that the attack "seemed to carry Pakistan's signature". He said initial investigations indicated that "the grenade used was similar to the ones being manufactured by the Pakistan Army Ordnance factory".

Three people and over 20 injured when two motorcycle-borne men threw the grenade on a religious congregation on city outskirts here on Sunday. The incident took place inside the Nirankari Bhavan's prayer hall at Adliwal village near Amritsar's Rajasansi, police said. A congregation of the Nirankari followers was being held inside at the time.

The attack took place while Punjab was on high alert after an input claiming "a group of six-seven JeM terrorists were in Punjab" and they were "planning to move to Delhi".

Moreover, the security agencies were also on alert after four people fled with an SUV after threatening its driver at gunpoint near Madhopur in Pathankot district a few days ago.