New Delhi: A powerful bomb explosion inside a packed multiplex theatre in Ludhiana on Sunday evening killed seven persons and injured at least 30 people.
The 600-seater Shringar theatre on Samrana Road was playing a Bhojpuri film when an explosion shook the place at around 2030-2040 hrs IST. Many people were injured in the stampede after the explosion.
Ishwar Singh, Deputy Inspector General of Ludhiana, told reporters a bomb had caused the “single” blast and it was a terrorist attack.
The bomb was planted between seats in a lower class stall usually occupied by migrant labourers. TV channels showed rescue workers struggling to reach the injured inside the darkened theatre. The explosion left a crater in the hall’s floor and damaged windowpanes and chairs.
A PTI report quoting Director General of Police N P Singh said four persons died inside the theatre and two at a hospital. Singh told PTI police were looking for a person who had come inside the theatre during interval.
A UNI report said scores of migrant labourers had come to see Janam Janam Ke Saath at Shingar theatre, which comprises three halls.
Dr Dipender Chaudhary, Senior Medical Officer at the Christian Medical College and Hospital, told CNN-IBN his institute was treating 22 people who had suffered multiple fractures and deep wounds. The other injured are being treated at the Civic Hospital.
Punjab's Director General of Police N P S Aulakh said the dead (including a child) were all males. Aulakh said that whoever planted the bomb could have done so during the interval of the film. The explosion took place within 15 minutes of the movie restarting after the intermission. A forensic team from Chandigarh investigated the blast site for clues on the bomb.
Visitor saw man with suitcase
CNN-IBN Correspondent Jyoti Kamal reports a traffic jam outside the theatre hampered rescue work for at least an hour. Eyewitnesses told CNN-IBN they had seen dismembered bodies inside theatre.
Jitender, who was inside the theatre, said he saw man keeping a suitcase in the hall. “A man bumped into me while getting out of the hall and when he came back he had a suitcase in his hand. I saw he kept the suitcase inside the hall and then left. There was an explosion after a while and part of the balcony fell off,” he said.
Police have detained around 20 people but refused to comment on who their suspects were. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Prakash Jaiswal said he found no connection between the explosion in Ludhiana and the bomb attack in Ajmer on Thursday.
"It doesn't seem that there is any particular link between the explosion in Ludhiana and the blast at Ajmer Dargah on Thursday," he said.
Former Punjab Police chief K P S Gill, who is credited for ending militancy in the state, said Sikh separatist movement was over in the state but at least two groups were still active. “Separatist groups were very active in Ludhiana during the Khalistan movement days. The Babbar Khalsa International and Khalistan Zindabad Force are still active and have links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence,” said Gill.
The Centre sought a report from the Punjab government after Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta spoke to the state’s chief secretary and Director General of Police.
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