Punjab Police has sped up its investigation after a late-night explosion near a railway track in Rajpura and officials are now checking if this incident is linked to a similar blast that took place in Sirhind earlier this year.
The latest incident happened around 10 pm on Monday near Bathonia village on the Rajpura–Shambhu railway line in Patiala district and according to police a man died while allegedly trying to set off a low-intensity explosive device. Senior officers have called it a failed or “botched” attempt to carry out a blast.
The deceased has been identified as Jagroop Singh, a resident of Panjwar Khurd village in Tarn Taran district and his body was found badly damaged at the spot. Police teams also recovered a SIM card, a broken mobile phone, wires, and two motorcycles from the site.
Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Varun Sharma said initial findings suggest the device used was not highly sophisticated however the recovery of the SIM card has shifted focus to a deeper technical investigation to find out if there is a bigger network involved and police suspect that Jagroop Singh may not have acted alone following which raids are being carried out in different areas to find possible accomplices.
This is the second such incident targeting railway infrastructure in Punjab this year as earlier on January 23 a blast took place around 9:50 pm near Khanpur village in the Sirhind area of Fatehgarh Sahib where the explosion damaged a section of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) track, broke nearly six feet of the rail line and also damaged the engine of a passing freight train. The loco pilot was injured in that incident.
After the Sirhind blast a letter claiming responsibility was circulated on social media in the name of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) which allegedly stated that the group was behind the attack however officials are still verifying the authenticity of that claim.