M A I N   N E W S

Blast in junk shop kills 5
Tribune News Service

BATHINDA, Jan 11 — Five persons were killed and six severely injured in a bomb explosion which took place in a junk shop in Chandsar Basti here this evening.

Those killed were identified as Kalia, Ramesh, Kalia, Sadhu and Ramesh. The impact of the blast was felt in nearby houses.

Gurmeet Singh, an eyewitness, told TNS he was in his house when he heard a big bang. When he came out, he saw a cloud of smoke. Pieces of flesh lay scattered on roofs of nearby houses.

Mr Jaspal Singh, Deputy Commissioner and Mr Jatinder Kumar Jain, SSP, who reached the site minutes after the blast, said all injured had been admitted to the local Civil Hospital.

Mr Jain said the blast took place when the victims were hammering a metal object. An Army forensic team had been summoned to investigate.

The injured, were identified, as Mange Lal, Roop Chand, owner of the junk shop, Shamsher, Rakesh, Raju and Sadhu Ram. Three of them were out of danger. The condition of others was stated to be serious.

Mange Lal, one of the injured, said he along with others would pick up material from the local cantonment on the sly. He picked up a metal object six inches long and three inches wide. The explosion occurred when this object was being hammered with other metal objects in the shop.

Veena, a relative of the owner of the junk shop, said the latter had a flour mill at Rampura Phul. He had shifted to the city about 20 days ago.

Gurcharan Singh, another eyewitness, said he left the shop minutes before the explosion. He was taking photographs in his house when he heard a deafening sound. When he came outside, he saw the injured crying for help.

The bodies lay scattered in a pool of blood. The policemen sealed the area immediately after the explosion.

Police sources said most victims were rag-pickers and residents of Teachers Colony here.

Mr Jain said the police would check all junk shops in the area to ensure such an incident did not recur. He said similar incidents had occurred in Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and other parts of the state.

Mr Jain said the explosion was not a handiwork of terrorists. It was purely an accident.

Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, has announced that the next of kin of those killed would be given Rs 50,000 each. The expense for medical treatment of the injured would be borne by the Punjab Government.

Meanwhile, the Army authorities have denied the statement of the scrap merchant and said that the bomb could not have been found on the dump-yard of the cantonment. Such shells could only be retrieved from the firing range, they added.

Self-immolation: Inquiry ordered

LUCKNOW, Jan 11 (PTI) — UP Government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the self-immolation by a Sikh youth yesterday and sent the SHO of the local Krishna Nagar police station to the lines, an official spokesman said today.

The inquiry would probe the circumstances that forced 25-year-old Mandeep Singh to immolate himself in front of the Vidhan Sabha, the spokesman said. The victim’s mother, Manpreet Kaur, alleged that her family, particularly Mandeep Singh, was being harassed by the police for the “past some time”.