Within three days of the terror strike at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah, another high-intensity bomb blast rocked Ludhiana city on Sunday night on the holy day of Id festival. The powerful bomb explosion occurred at 8:40 PM in the Sringar cinema hall that is located in the heart of the city.

The powerful bomb blast killed at least seven people and injured more than 40 people. According to some eyewitness, there were two blasts in close succession occurred at 8.30 pm.

People were watching a Bhojpuri movie, Janam Janam ke Sath, and the blasts occurred just after the interval of the movie. Though it was a Bhojpuri movie so the people, who became victim, were mainly migrants from other states such as Bihar and UP. Two more cinema halls are in the same building. The report said further that the condition of 23 of those injured, was stated to be critical till Monday morning.

According to Ludhiana Range DIG Ishwar Singh, the bomb was reportedly placed under the first three rows of seats in cinema hall. After the blast, the front row of the theater spattered with blood and body parts of victims. The blast was so powerful that it created a huge crater on the ground of theater.

Further, the Union Home Ministry said in a statement that it would be needed more information before reaching on the conclusion that it was a terror strike. If it is a terror strike, it would be the first terror strike in Punjab in last 7-8 years and the very first in Ludhiana. Ludhiana is an industrial city where thousands migrant workers from Bihar and UP works in different industrial units in the city.

The investigating teams have started searching the links with the blast to know whether it was the handiwork of Islamist terror groups or any Punjab militant organisation is behind the strike.

Later, Former Punjab DGP K P S Gill said that the planting of explosive devices in a cinema hall indicates that it was a terror strike and the Babbar Khalsa International or the Khalistan Zindabad Force may be the group behind the blast. At the same time, he also said that the role of Islamic groups could not be ruled out because militants groups in Punjab and in J&K have been in constant touch in the past.

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