Charanjit Channi seeks Centre's help in blast investigation

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi on Friday said he spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and apprised him about the blast in the district court complex in Ludhiana and sought help in the investigation.

A person was killed and five others were injured in the suspected IED blast on Thursday.

"We need the Centre's help as Punjab does not have the equipment to check the kind of RDX used in the blast," Channi told the media here.

He said investigations indicated that the only person who died in the blast was the one trying to set up a bomb. "No one has taken responsibility for the blast yet. Even we don't have any indication (about the outfit behind it)," he said.

Regarding investigations into the killing of a youth at a gurdwara in Kapurthala, the Chief Minister said there was no evidence of desecration. "The investigation is pointing towards a murder. We will modify the FIR (first information report) accordingly, he added.

The youth was killed a day after the killing of a man at the Golden Temple in Amritsar after an alleged act of "sacrilege".

Channi, who reached the blast spot to assess the situation along with Home Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and other Cabinet colleagues on Thursday, told the media that such incidents have seen a rise after the government tightened its noose against the drug traffickers.

Channi, who smelt a plot before the Assembly elections slated early next year, also called it a 'conspiracy' by those trying to polarise the voters.

The blast took place at around 12:22 p.m. in a washroom on the second floor of the court complex when the court was functioning. The court is located close to the district commissioner's office.