The blast had occurred in a Maruti car PB 5-C 8973 at Maur Mandi near Bathinda at 8.30pm on Tuesday in front of the vehicle of Congress Candidate Harminder Singh Jassi.
A day after three people died in a car explosion in Bathinda district of poll-bound Punjab, three more succumbed to their injuries on Wednesday.
The blast had occurred in a Maruti car PB 5-C 8973 at Maur Mandi near Bathinda at 8.30pm on Tuesday in front of the vehicle of Congress Candidate Harminder Singh Jassi.
The incident happened soon after his rally had concluded. Jassi is a close relative of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and is in the hit list of Sikh extremist groups.
Three persons who were standing near the car, namely Harpal Singh Pali, a Congress worker, Ashok Kumar and his daughter Barkha, died on the spot. More than 12 persons were rushed to the nearest hospital with serious injuries and three of them — Jaskarn Singh Jappi, Rattandip Singh and Subhash Singla — succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment in the local hospital. All three are in the age-group of 11-15 years, said the police.
Eight people injured in the incident are still undergoing treatment in different hospitals in the city. A CRPF jawan, D Ram Babu was also injured in the blast. A FIR was registered under Section 302, 307, 436, 427 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The police have not ruled out terror angle in the incident and said it was a planned act. A pressure cooker had exploded in the incident and another one was found from the spot, indicating the IED could have been used in the explosion. The abandoned car which exploded carried a fake registration number plate and the chassis number on engine was also removed.
Taking strong exception of the incident, Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, V K Singh directed Director General of Police, Punjab to investigate the incident and beef up security across the state.
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