Those involved in grenade attacks to face encounter: Arora

Mincing no words, Punjab Cabinet Minister Aman Arora on Monday said a police encounter was bound to take place if anyone lobbed a hand grenade in the state.

“Such activities won’t be tolerated by the present Punjab Government anymore. There will be no mercy. There are strict instructions to police regarding that,” he told reporters in Kapurthala.

The remarks came hours after a man suspected of hurling a hand grenade at an Amritsar temple was shot dead by the police.

“Shouldn’t an encounter take place against someone who hurls a hand grenade? Definitely, it will be done,” Arora said, adding that his government’s stance had been very clear on such acts as they would never allow anybody to disrupt the state’s peace and harmony.

Arora also warned Pakistan-based elements against carrying out such activities, apparently referring to lobbing of a hand grenade at the house of a Jalandhar YouTuber.

A Pakistan-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti has claimed the responsibility of the attack, the 14th such incident in the state in recent months.

“If you get attacks conducted on temples and houses here, while sitting abroad, what do you expect? All of them will meet a similar fate,” he added.

‘More recruitments in police soon’

Responding to a query on vacant positions in the police department, Arora said the situation was the result of previous government’s failure.

He said his government had already recruited around 15,000 people in the state police. “Around 2,100 youngsters will be recruited every year, including 300 sub-inspectors,” the minister added.