Fire Near BSF HQ, Blast Outside Army Camp Trigger Security Scare in Punjab

Two incidents,  a fire in Jalandhar and a blast in Amritsar,  triggered panic across Punjab on Tuesday night, especially as both occurred near sensitive defence establishments.

The first incident took place around 8 pm outside the main gate of the Border Security Force (BSF) headquarters in Jalandhar. A scooter parked near the entrance suddenly caught fire, leading to panic in the area. The impact was strong enough to be felt nearly 300 metres away, damaging a car’s windows, shattering a nearby shop’s glass panes, and causing cracks in other surrounding glass surfaces.

Several eyewitnesses claimed they heard a loud blast-like sound that echoed up to a kilometre away. However, Jalandhar Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur said officials are still verifying the exact cause of the incident.

“Prima facie, an Activa parked outside the premises caught fire. It is too early to confirm anything further. Investigation is underway,” Kaur said.

According to family members, Gurpreet Singh, who regularly delivers food parcels in the area, had parked the scooter near the spot. As he approached the vehicle on Tuesday evening, it suddenly burst into flames. He immediately informed his father about the incident.

Police officials have not ruled out any angle so far, including the possibility of sabotage. 

CCTV footage from the surrounding area is being scanned while investigators are examining both technical and external factors. Fire department officials also noted that the blaze was unusually intense and required multiple water units to control it.

More than two hours later, another incident was reported nearly 100 kilometres away in Amritsar. An explosion occurred near the outer wall of the Army’s Khasa Camp on Attari Road.

Amritsar Rural SSP Suhail Qasim Mir said metal-like fragments were found embedded in the boundary wall, indicating that an explosive object may have been hurled towards the camp.
Preliminary inputs suggest that masked individuals were involved in the attack and fled the spot immediately after the explosion. However, officials have not yet confirmed whether there is any connection between the Amritsar blast and the earlier Jalandhar incident.

Reacting to the developments, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring termed the explosion “deeply alarming”, while Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia questioned whether law and order in the border state had collapsed.

However, No injuries were reported in either case.