There is the "possibility of a link" between the Ludhiana court blast and the drugs case in which ex-minister Bikram Majithia has been named, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi said Friday, as he confirmed he had sought the centre's help to investigate the explosion.
"It is a possibility. The blast happened in Ludhiana when the hearing in the Majithia case was taking place in Mohali. There is a possibility of a link that needs to be probed," the Chief Minister said.
He also said there was no proof, at this time, of the involvement of Pak agencies or Khalistan groups in the Ludhiana courtroom blast. He further said he had spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Mr Channi's statement, however, seemed to contradict his deputy, Sukhjinder Randhawa, who is also the state Home Minister. Mr Randhawa said the role of external forces could not be ruled out.
Mr Channi made similar comments yesterday too, when he linked the Ludhiana blast with the alleged cases of religious sacrilege at the Golden Temple in Amritsar and a gurdwara in Kapurthala.
"Since we started going after drugs... such incidents of sacrilege happened... in Golden Temple and then in Kapurthala, which was not a case of sacrilege... (then) there was a court hearing in Mohali (and) this blast happened," he had said.
At the court hearing in Mohali, Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia is seeking advance bail after having been named in case for allegedly allowing drug smuggling through the use of his property or conveyance, financing the distribution or sale of drugs and criminal conspiracy for smuggling narcotics.
The Chief Minister's claims drew a scathing retort from his predecessor and ex-Congress veteran Amarinder Singh, who slammed the "unfortunate (and) highly irresponsible" comments.
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"... the Chief Minister (is trying) to jump to conclusions by constructing a link between the blasts, the sacrilege and the FIR against an Akali leader without any investigations," Mr Singh said, asking Mr Channi to speak with "facts and not political rhetoric, lest it bails out the real culprits."
Mr Singh - a Congress veteran of over four decades who has emerged as a major worry for his former party ahead of the 2022 elections, has also criticised the case against Mr Majithia.
Yesterday Mr Channi said "anti-national and anti-state" forces were trying to derail the elections, in which the Congress is desperate to retain control of the state.
One person - the bomber - was killed and five others injured in the Ludhiana court blast. The injured are out of danger, the Chief Minister has said.
On the topic of the mob killings at the Golden Temple and Kapurthala, Mr Channi said there was no evidence of sacrilege at the latter site. A murder case will be filed soon, he said.
On Sunday, a man accused of trying to remove the Sikh flag was chased and beaten to death in the presence of the police. Videos of a group attacking the man went viral. The incident took place a day after another man was beaten to death at the Golden Temple after an earlier alleged sacrilege attempt.
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