Blast inside court bathroom kills two people in India

Punjab has been put on high alert, deputy chief minister of the state said

At least two people have been killed while five have been injured in a suspected IED blast in Ludhiana court complex in Punjab on Thursday. Screengrab (CNN-News18 / YouTube)

Two people were killed and several others injured when a bomb went off in a courthouse bathroom in the northern Indian state of Punjab.

Police said there was a bomb blast around 12.20pm local time in a bathroom on the second floor of the Ludhiana court complex in Punjab.

Officials said that the blast also injured at least five people and damaged the windows and walls of the bathroom and nearby rooms.

Police dispatched several fire engines to the spot and the entire area around the courthouse was cordoned off.

Amarinder Singh, the former chief minister of the state, said that the police must “get to the bottom” of the bomb blast in the Ludhiana court complex.

Mr Singh tweeted that: “Disturbing news of a blast at Ludhiana court complex. Saddened to know about the demise of two individuals, Praying for the recovery of those injured. @PunjabPoliceInd must get to the bottom of this.”

Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa told the media: “Our forensic team has reached. Ours is a border state, so we cannot rule out anything, including the possibility of external forces, as they never want Punjab to be stable.”

He said that Punjab has been put on high alert.

Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said that the Ludhiana bomb blast incident is the “most shocking and dastardly act” and added that “forces inimical to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the state would never succeed in their nefarious designs with a sole motive to destabilise the state.”

He added: “As elections are approaching, some anti-Punjab forces are trying to disturb the peace. First, there was an attempt of sacrilege at the Golden Temple, in which they failed. Now, this blast. We are not going to spare culprits.”

Ludhiana police officials said that the bomb disposal and forensics team has been called from Chandigarh for the probe.

The officials urged people not to panic.