Two suspects in the blast outside the Punjab BJP headquarters here have been identified, a senior official of the Chandigarh police said on Friday.
“Further investigations are on,” he said, adding efforts are on to nab them. The explosion occurred around 5 pm on Wednesday when a suspected crude explosive device was hurled near the office, officials had said. No casualties were reported.
An FIR under relevant sections of the Explosives Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act had been registered in connection with the incident.
Police later cordoned off the area and deployed personnel in the area, while a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) inspected the site.
The Punjab BJP headquarters is located in Sector 37 in Chandigarh. An unverified video that surfaced on social media on Wednesday evening shows a man pulling the pin from a blue-coloured grenade and throwing it, while another person records the act. The duo is then seen fleeing moments before the blast.
Their faces were not visible in the 10-second video, the veracity of which was yet to be ascertained. CCTV camera footage also showed the suspects running across the road after the explosion.
In a separate unverified social media post attributed to Sukhjinder Singh Babbar of the banned Babbar Khalsa International, the outfit claimed responsibility for the incident.
Chandigarh Senior Superintendent of Police Kanwardeep Kaur had Wednesday said, “Prima facie, it appears that a small crude-type device was thrown.” The BJP’s state unit chief Sunil Jakhar had dubbed it an “attack” at the party office. Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring condemned the blast and called it a “matter of grave concern.”