The Punjab police have issued a warning after getting an email communication threatening a bomb attack on five big temples in the State in line with the 42nd anniversary of Operation Blue Star. All these are temples which have been threatened and are set for attack: Durgiana Temple at Amritsar, Mukteshwar Dham Temple at Pathankot, Devi Talab Mandir at Jalandhar, Maisar Khana Temple at Bathinda and Mata Kali Temple at Patiala. The state’s law enforcement has tightened security measures in all parts of Punjab and has shown great interest in the threats.
The emails are in a manner that is similar to the ones that had been received by the schools, government offices and the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the past, which were hoax bomb threats, said Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar. But there’s no hesitation, so there’s an extensive investigation going on.
The threats are before Operation Blue Star, the June 6th event, commemorating the operation. This was a significant Indian Army military operation in June 1984, from 1st to 10th, named Operation Blue Star. Operation launched by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the wake of eliminating the armed Sikh militants masterminded by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar. The rebels turned off Khalistan, the demand for a separate Sikh state.
In this area, 11 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) which include Border Security Force (BSF), Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) are deployed for maintaining law and order.
Likewise, recently Amritsar Police booked a Bangladeshi national for providing a fake email account. It’s believed some of these might have been used for sending bomb threat e-mails. Security has been beefed up in various religious, transport and other sensitive areas in Punjab.