A suspected bomber was killed in a late-night explosion on the Rajpura-Shambhu railway line in Punjab’s Patiala district on Monday, an incident senior police officials have now termed a botched “attempted detonation.”
The blast occurred around 10 pm near Bathonia village on a freight train track, temporarily suspending rail traffic and damaging a portion of the line, which railway officials later replaced.
Patiala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Varun Sharma, who rushed to the spot along with teams from the Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force, said the suspect died while trying to detonate the device.
Suspect from Panjwar, once militancy hotbed
The deceased has been identified as Jagroop Singh, the son of Lakhwinder Singh and a resident of Panjwar Khurd, a militancy hotbed in the ’80s, in the border district of Tarn Taran.
While the incident was initially reported as a low-intensity blast, a closer forensic examination led officials to conclude it was a deliberate attempt at sabotage.
Investigators recovered Jagroop’s mutilated body along with a SIM card, a damaged mobile phone, wires, and two motorcycles from the site.
The SSP said while preliminary findings do not point to a sophisticated improvised explosive device (IED), the recovery of the SIM card has shifted the focus toward a technical investigation to unravel a larger conspiracy.
Police sources indicate that Jagroop likely had accomplices, and raids are being conducted across the region to apprehend his accomplices.
Second such blast this year
The location of the blast has raised security concerns as it lies near the Shambhu border, a flashpoint for farmer protests on the Punjab-Haryana boundary. This marks the second such attack on the state’s rail infrastructure this year; on January 23, a similar explosion occurred at 9.50pm near Khanpur village in the Sirhind area of Fatehgarh Sahib. That blast, which took place just 48 hours before Republic Day, targeted a dedicated freight corridor, damaging a locomotive engine and injuring a loco pilot. Central and state agencies are now investigating potential links between these two incidents to determine if a coordinated campaign is targeting the region’s freight network.
Blast draws political criticism
The incident has triggered a political slugfest, with the opposition tearing into the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring took to X to express concern, saying, “Punjab has woken up to two disturbing incidents of killing of two persons in Batala and a bomb blast on the railway track… These are ominous indications. The hard-earned peace is at stake in Punjab. With the AAP government preoccupied to ensure its survival, it is obvious that the saboteurs and criminals are exploiting the situation.”
Punjab leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said: “Repeated blasts on railway tracks in Punjab first Sirhind, now Patiala are not isolated incidents, they are a pattern. From damaged freight corridors to injured loco pilots, serious security lapses are staring us in the face. Yet the @BhagwantMann government remains in denial.Law and order cannot run on headlines and PR. Punjab deserves action not silence after every explosion.”
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia alleged “a serious intelligence failure” and noted that “fears are growing of a return to the law and order situation of the 1980s.”
www.hindustantimes.com
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