Launcher used in Mohali attack recovered: Punjab Police
Chandigarh, May 10: A day after a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at its intelligence wing headquarters in Mohali, the Punjab Police on Tuesday said it has recovered the launcher used in the attack and that a number of suspects have been rounded up.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the strictest punishment will be meted out to those trying to spoil the state's atmosphere.
Director General of Police (DGP) V K Bhawra said they have got a few leads and the case will be solved soon.
"A number of suspects have been rounded up and questioned. The launcher used in the attack has been recovered by the police and all leads developed in the case are being pursued meticulously," a statement issued by the Mohali police said.
The rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the third floor of the highly-guarded building in Mohali's Sector 77 at 7:45 pm on Monday, following which an alert was sounded in Punjab.
A case under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Explosives Act has been lodged at Mohali's Sohana police station in connection with the incident.
The case was registered on the basis of the statement of sub-inspector Balkar Singh, the security in-charge of the intelligence wing headquarters.
In his statement, the sub-inspector said he heard the sound of an explosion on the third floor of the building and when he went there, he saw smoke coming out of room number 41.
He said a projectile, after hitting the wall and breaking the window panes, hit the roof of the room before falling on a chair.
Earlier in the day, the chief minister held a meeting with the DGP and top officials of the intelligence wing and directed the state police chief to probe the matter thoroughly.
Mann said nobody would be allowed to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in Punjab, adding that a few inimical forces are constantly trying to foment trouble across the state, but they will never succeed in their nefarious designs.
During the meeting, the DGP apprised the chief minister that a few suspects have been taken into custody for interrogation.
"Some arrests have been made and more will be made," Mann said after the meeting, apparently referring to the people who have been rounded up for questioning.
"Whoever tries to spoil the atmosphere of Punjab will not be spared and the strictest punishment will be given to them, which their coming generations will remember," the chief minister said.
Later, after a meeting with senior officials at the intelligence wing headquarters, Bhawra told reporters in Mohali that a projectile had hit the building and the explosive used in it seems to be TNT (trinitrotoluene).
"There was nobody in the room when the incident occurred. The impact was on the wall," he said.
"But it is a challenge and we are making all-out efforts to solve the case," the DGP added.
To a question on whether it was a terror attack or there was a Khalistani angle in it, Bhawra said whatever comes out of the investigation, "we will let you know".
"We have leads and we will soon solve the case," he said.
A preliminary investigation pointed towards the involvement of two men who came in a car and fired the RPG at the building.
The incident is being seen as a major intelligence failure as the building houses the state counter-intelligence wing, the special task force, the anti-gangster task force and some other units.
Police are also suspecting the involvement of gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda, who is believed to be in Pakistan, in the incident.
Rinda has been taking the help of local gangsters to carry out anti-national activities here, police sources said.
His name figured when a terror plot was foiled recently with the arrest of four suspected Pakistan-linked terrorists in Haryana's Karnal. Rinda's involvement was also detected in a hand-grenade attack at the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) office in Nawanshahr last month.
The incident took place days after the arrest of the four suspected Pakistan-linked terrorists in Karnal and the arrest of two people that led to the recovery of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) packed with 1.5 kg RDX from Punjab's Tarn Taran district.
The explosion also came close on the heels of the recovery of an explosive device near the Burail Jail in Chandigarh on April 24.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said the explosion was "a cowardly act" and his party's government in Punjab will ensure that the culprits get the "strictest punishment", while the opposition parties described the incident as "disturbing" and "shocking".
Congress MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said the attack was worrying and posed a threat to the hard-earned peace in the state.
"RPG attack on Punjab Police intelligence wing office in Mohali is worrying. This after RDX was found few days back in Tarn Taran. Punjab has been through dark times already, we can't afford to damage the hard-earned peace of Punjab," Bajwa said in a tweet.
Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma said the blast at the building of the intelligence headquarters is a matter of concern and expressed surprise over the local police describing it as a "minor" explosion.
The Mohali police had on Monday said a minor explosion was reported at the headquarters.
"The chief minister needs to pay attention to the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab," Sharma said in a tweet.
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Delhi HC orders Rs 30 lakh compensation to kin of 3 deceased sanitation workers
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court has directed the city authorities to pay Rs 30 lakh compensation each to the families of three sanitation workers who died during manual scavenging in 2017.
The HC allowed the petition by the family members seeking higher ex gratia in accordance with a Supreme Court order in 2023 which increased the compensation payable to the dependents of the victims who lost their lives in manual scavenging to Rs 30 lakh from the existing Rs 10 lakh.
The family members said in the petition that the three sanitation workers died in August 2017 while cleaning a drain in Lajpat Nagar. The plea said the deceased were engaged by a Delhi Jal Board sub-contractor.
The petitioners said that after they died, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh was awarded to the family members. However, they prayed that the amount be increased to Rs 30 lakh.
"It can be seen that the directions issued by the Supreme Court were expressly made applicable to all the statutory bodies including corporations, railways, cantonments as well as the agencies under its control.
"Moreover, the Union and State governments were directed to ensure that the rehabilitation measures were taken with respect to sewage workers, including the family of those who have lost their lives. Specifically, it was directed that the compensation of Rs 10 lakh that was given to the family members of the deceased workers be enhanced to Rs 30 lakh," Justice Sachin Datta said.
The high court said necessarily, the ameliorative directions, strictures and the embargo imposed by the Supreme Court are applicable to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) as also to any agency that may be engaged by the board within any part of Delhi in connection with the work relating to the collection of sewage or carrying out connected works.
"Any disregard or violation thereto would invite strict consequences" as envisaged in the apex court verdict, it said.
Considering the reasoning given by the apex court, it would be a travesty if the entitlement of the family members of the deceased scavenging workers is confined to Rs 10 lakh, the high court said.
"The same would defeat the directions of the Supreme Court to enhance the compensation to Rs 30 lakh on the basis that the previously fixed compensation of Rs 10 lakh was fixed as far back as in the year 1993 and could not be considered to be an adequate compensation," it said, adding that the family members of the deceased sanitation workers are entitled to a compensation of Rs 30 lakh.
The high court said the remaining amount be paid to the family members within eight weeks.
Observing that manual scavengers have lived in bondage, systematically trapped in inhuman conditions for a long time, the Supreme Court had in October last year asked the Centre and state governments to completely eradicate manual scavenging across the country.
Passing a slew of directions for the benefit of people involved in manual scavenging, it had asked the central and state governments to pay Rs 30 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of those who die while cleaning sewers.
"The court hereby directs the Union and the States to ensure that the compensation for sewer deaths is increased (given that the previous amount fixed, that is, Rs 10 lakh) was made applicable from 1993. The current equivalent of that amount is Rs 30 lakh. This shall be the amount to be paid, by the concerned agency, that is, the Union, the Union Territory or the State as the case may be. In other words, compensation for sewer deaths shall be Rs 30 lakh," the Supreme Court had ordered.
It had also said that the authorities needed to take measures for the rehabilitation of the victims and their families.
