Terror struck at Ludhiana when at least six people were killed and 25 others injured in a blast in one of the three cinema halls in a multiplex located in a busy shopping area.
LUDHIANA: Terror struck at Ludhiana on Sunday night when at least six people were killed and 25 others injured in a blast in one of the three cinema halls in a multiplex located in a busy shopping area of this industrial town.
It was not immediately known what caused the explosion in the hall in the multiplex in Sarmala road which was teeming with hundreds of people on a festive Sunday evening.
'Janan Janam Ke Saath' was being being screened in the hall which has a capacity for an audience of 600 when the explosion occured at 8.40 pm. The evening show had started at 7 p.m.
Police did not rule out the hand of terrorists in the blast but said the casualties could go up. Limbs of some of the dead were seen dismembered.
Chandrashekar, ADGP (Law and Order) said the blast appeared to have been caused by a bomb.
DIG Ludhiana Ishwar Singh said six people had died and over 25 injured, half of whom were critical. The victims were yet to be identified.
"The cause of the blast is yet to be ascertained," Ishwar Singh said.
DGP N P Singh said four persons died on the spot while two died in the hospital. He said one person had come inside the theatre during interval time and the needle of suspicion is on him.
Low intensity explosives were used, N P Singh said, adding it is too early to name any terror outifit who could be behind the blast.
Windowpanes in the multiplex were smashed while several chairs were destroyed.
Punjab was in a state of high alert after the recent bomb blast in the revered Dargah in Ajmer.
Condemning the blast, Punjab Congress President Rajidner Kaur Bhattal said, "It is a sad incident and our sympathies are with the family members of those who have died in the blast".
She said the state government should strictly deal with the people trying to disturb peace in the state.
Meanwhile, a high alert has been sounded in Chandigarh and security around the inter-state bus terminus, railway station and other important buildings and installations in the city has been beefed up.
"The city has been put on high alert in view of the Ludhiana blasts," a police spokesman said.
Commenting on the incident, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Prakash Jaiswal said, "It doesn't seem that there is any particular link between the explosion in Ludhiana and the blast at Ajmer Dargah on Thursday".
The Centre is awaiting a detailed report from the Punjab government in this regard, he said.
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