Ludhiana blast: Easy access from dozen entry points

Nikhil Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, December 23

The high-intensity blast on the second floor of the old court complex on Thursday has exposed chinks in security at the building.

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This six-storey complex consists of courtrooms, restrooms for judges, cell for criminals, and around 1,500 lawyers’ chambers. Even the place where the blast took place had four courtrooms in the vicinity, two situated right next to the spot. The police have launched an investigation to fix the responsibility of the officials looking after the security of the complex.

Staff were on Strike

There was not much rush at the court due to a lawyers’ strike today. Around 30-40 people were present on the floor where the blast occurred. A lawyer at Ludhiana Court

The complex had three main entrances where metal detectors were installed but no physical checking of anyone entering the complex is usually done. Apart from these gates, the complex has around a dozen entry points from where anyone can walk in without undergoing any security check. Lawyers even claimed these three metal detectors were non-functional most of the times.

The lawyers said thousands of people visited the complex daily and the blast had exposed serious security lapse on part of the government. “There was not much rush at the court due to the lawyers’ strike today. Around 30-40 people were present on the floor where the blast occurred. Had there been fully functional courts, there would have been more casualties,” said a lawyer. Asked about the chinks in security, ADGP Intelligence AS Rai said a probe would be conducted on how the suspect entered the complex carrying explosives.

Citing pending probe, he refused to comment about the kind of explosives used in the blast. “We will conduct a probe to find out how explosives reached the court premises. CCTV footage is also being scanned to get clues,” said Rai.

Disturbing: Guv

Chandigarh: Expressing concern over the blast at the Ludhiana court, Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Thursday called it “a very disturbing and unfortunate incident”. “I condemn this terrible act of violence,” he said, as he called upon people to maintain calm. tns