Amritsar, 15 Mar

A blast occurred outside a temple in Amritsar around midnight when a motorcycle-borne person threw an explosive device towards it, damaging a portion of its wall and shattering window panes, officials said on Saturday.

While no one was hurt in the incident, the explosion caused panic among residents in the Khandwala area of Amritsar.

There have been many incidents of explosions targeting police posts in Amritsar and Gurdaspur in the past four months but it the first such attack on a temple. Opposition parties alleged that the incident reflected the "deteriorating" law and order situation under the AAP government.

Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the police were informed about the incident at around 2 am on Saturday by the Thakur Dwar temple priest.

CCTV footage of the incident showed two unidentified persons coming to the temple on a motorcycle. After waiting for a few seconds, one of them is seen throwing some explosive material towards the temple and the two later flee from the site.

Bhullar said police teams were trying to trace the men involved in the blast and they would soon be nabbed. "Our teams are following them. Like we had traced earlier incidents, this incident will also be traced," he said.

A forensic team has collected samples from the spot to identify the material used in the explosion, he said.

"I want to warn those behind this incident that they will face strict action," Bhullar said.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asserted that from time to time, many attempts have been made to disturb Punjab but the state police has taken timely action against such elements.

"Punjab is completely safe in terms of law and order,” he told reporters.

He stressed that mutual brotherhood and peace would be maintained in the state.

The Congress, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal targeted the AAP government after the incident.

"I strongly condemn the bomb attack on Thakur Dwara temple, Khandwala in Amritsar. AAP government fails to check repeated incidents of blasts in the border city. Deteriorating law and order in Punjab is a matter of serious concern," Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu said on X.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring also condemned the incident, saying this time a temple was targeted.

"Yet another grenade attack in Amritsar, this time targeting a temple in the Khandwala area. There is an atmosphere of fear prevailing in Punjab, and people are genuinely feeling insecure. It's high time the @AAPPunjab government wakes up from its deep slumber and takes action," said Warring in a post on X.

Senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia said it was a "law and order failure."

Meanwhile, referring to the problems of drugs, gangsters and calls for ransom, Chief Minister Mann, while reacting to the Amritsar incident, said that these are also attempts to disturb Punjab to show it as a disturbed state.

“But our Punjab Police constantly takes timely action against anti-social elements. On the occasion of Holi, where violent incidents took place in different corners of the country, everyone in Punjab played Holi together. Punjab is completely safe in terms of law and order,” said Mann.

He said the Border Security Force (BSF) has informed the state government that ever since an anti-drugs drive has been initiated in the state, the drone movement from across the border has reduced by 70 per cent.