Amritsar temple grenade attack: NIA conducts searches at 19 locations in Punjab

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at 19 locations across several districts in Punjab on Tuesday in connection with the grenade attack on a temple in Amritsar in March, officials said.

The searches in the border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Batala resulted in the seizure of incriminating materials, including mobile phones and digital devices, they said.

Terrorists, backed by foreign-based handlers, had hurled a grenade at Thakur Dwara Sanatan Temple, Sher Shah Road, Amritsar on the night of March 14.

''The incident was one of the many recent grenade attacks carried out by operatives of different terror groups in the state of Punjab, on the directions of their handlers based abroad,'' an NIA spokesperson said in a statement.

The official said the NIA probe found that the attack was carried out by Gursidak Singh (now deceased) and Vishal Gill.

''Singh was in contact with foreign-based handlers, who recruited India-based individuals and conspired to spread terror among the people by providing grenades/explosives and funds. The handlers radicalised vulnerable youth and induced them to unleash terror in lieu of money and drugs,'' the statement said.

Singh and Gill were allegedly involved in multiple instances of picking and dropping of grenades, weapons etc, the NIA investigations showed.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)