Nawanshahr, Sept 12 — Panic gripped a liquor shop in SBS Nagar on Wednesday night when unidentified miscreants hurled a low-intensity explosive, suspected to be a grenade, shattering a refrigerator glass inside the store. The incident comes just over a month after a similar grenade attack at another liquor vend in the district.
Soon after the blast, an unverified social media post surfaced from an unauthenticated page claiming to be linked with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). The post stated that fugitive gangster Gopi Nawashahria, along with Mannu Agwan and Zeeshan Akhtar, had carried out the attack. It further warned that rocket launchers and IEDs could be used in future if liquor shops were not permanently shut.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Raj Kumar said the Sadar police station registered a case under the Explosives Act and investigations were underway. “We are gathering CCTV footage from the crime scene and verifying the veracity of the social media post,” he said, adding that teams were also trying to determine whether the explosive was indeed a grenade or a flammable object.
Police officials recalled that on August 12, a terror module linked to Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Rinda was busted in connection with a grenade attack at another liquor vend in SBS Nagar on August 7. Five members of the network were arrested then, and a grenade along with a .30-bore pistol was recovered from their possession.
The fresh attack has once again raised concerns about targeted strikes on liquor vends in Punjab and the role of terror networks operating with support from across the border.
