 "Is Pakistan’s ISI behind grenade attack on Amritsar temple?")
A grenade attack at a temple in Punjab’s Amritsar on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday is suspected to have a link to Pakistan’s spy agency. The Indian state has reported a dozen grenade attacks in the past four months, mostly on police targets.
The explosion in the wee hours of Saturday (March 15) is the first such attack on a religious site in Punjab in recent months. Police suggest Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) could be behind it.
Let’s take a closer look.
Explosion at Amritsar temple
A blast occurred at Thakurdwara Temple in Amritsar’s Khandwala at around 12.35 am Friday. No one was hurt but the incident caused panic among the residents.
Punjab Police said the explosion damaged the walls of the temple and shattered window panes, reported PTI.
CCTV footage shows two men arriving outside the Thakurdwara temple on a motorcycle and throwing a suspicious object resembling a bomb around midnight. Preliminary inquiry found that the unidentified persons carried a flag and stood outside the temple for a while before hurling the object, as per an Indian Express report.
Senior Punjab Police officials in Chandigarh said that the man who threw the grenade was struggling to take out the pin before succeeding.
Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said police were informed about the incident around 2 am by the temple priest, who was sleeping inside and escaped unhurt.
Police have launched a probe and are trying to trace the men involved in the attack.
#WATCH | Punjab: A blast occurred at Thakurdwara Temple in Khandwala, Amritsar late last night after two bike-borne men lobbed an object, suspected to be an explosive, at the temple. No injuries reported. Police personnel present at the spot to carry out an investigation. Details… pic.twitter.com/mH92RqOm1L
— ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2025
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe grenade attack came hours after a man injured five people with a rod in the premises of the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Friday.
Police suspect ISI link
Punjab Police suspect ISI’s hand in the grenade attack at the temple in Amritsar .
“We got information at 2 am. We reached the spot right away. The forensic team was called. We checked the CCTV and spoke to the nearby people. The thing is that Pakistan’s ISI lures our youth into creating disturbances in Punjab,” Amritsar Police Commissioner Bhullar was quoted as saying by ANI.
He said the recent incidents show ISI is wooing weaker sections of society, warning people not to get tempted by money to carry out such attacks.
Bhullar also expressed confidence in solving the case quickly. “We will trace this case within days and take appropriate action. I warn the youth not to ruin their lives. We will catch the culprits soon," he added.
According to a senior Punjab Police officer, the targeting of the temple indicates an effort to stoke communal tensions in the state.
“The fact that a temple has been chosen this time as a target shows that there is a change in strategy of the ISI handlers sitting in Pakistan. Till now, the targets were police posts, politically connected people and a relative of a police official. It seems there is a deliberate effort to incite communal passions in the state,” the officer said, as per Indian Express.
Reactions to the grenade attack
Following the latest grenade attack, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Saturday that there were several attempts to disturb peace in the state but insisted the law and order situation is intact.
“There are always many attempts to disturb the peace in Punjab. Drugs, gangsters, and extortion are part of it, and there are attempts to show that Punjab has become a disturbed state… During the festival of Holi, in other states, the police had to use a lathi charge during processions. But such things do not happen in Punjab… The law and order situation in Punjab is good,” he said.
The explosion at the Amritsar temple has triggered criticism against Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that with another grenade attack there is an atmosphere of fear in the state and concern among people. “It’s high time the AAP Punjab government wakes up from its deep slumber and takes action,” he said in a post on X.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said the attack on the temple was a “serious and sensitive incident” that hurt the religious sentiments of the people.
“The SAD strongly condemned the incident of blast near Thakur Dwar Mandir in Sri Amritsar. This is the 13th such blast in the area & is proof of complete collapse of law & order in the state. It is a serious & sensitive incident which has hurt the sentiments of the people. A high level judicial inquiry should be done to identify the culprits & to expose the conspiracy behind this incident,” the party’s statement read.
The SAD also alleged that Punjab was being deliberately destabilised, warning that “such experiments have proved dangerous in the past and are once again pushing Punjab in the wrong direction.”
Hitting out at the Mann-led government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union minister Ranveet Singh Bittu wrote on X, “I strongly condemn the bomb attack on Thakur Dwara temple, Khandwala in Amritsar. AAP government fails to check repeated incidents of blasts in border city. Deteriorating law and order in Punjab is a matter of serious concern.”
I strongly condemn bomb attack on Thakur Dwara temple, Khandwala in Amritsar. AAP government fails to check repeated incidents of blasts in border city. Deteriorating law and order in Punjab is matter of serious concern.@ANI @PTI_News @CNNnews18 pic.twitter.com/caQtjnMCrn
— Ravneet Singh Bittu (@RavneetBittu) March 15, 2025
Series of grenade attacks in Punjab
Punjab has witnessed at least 12 grenade attacks over the past four months.
The Ghania Ke Bangar police station in Batala was targeted on December 12 last year, followed by an attack on Wadala Bangar police post in Gurdaspur on December 20.
In January, the targets included the Gumtala police post in Amritsar, a liquor trader’s residence in Jaintipur, and a Congress leader’s house in Batala.
As per Indian Express, these attacks are often linked to organised crime, terrorist groups, and cross-border networks.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
