Centre, Punjab govt conducting ‘parallel’ probe, says Badal

Days after the Centre sought the Punjab government’s opinion on handing over the Gurdaspur terror attack case to National Investigation Agency (NIA), Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday said both the Central and state governments are conducting a “parallel” probe into the issue.

“Let NIA do their probe, the state government is conducting its own inquiry into the matter,” Badal said when asked if the Punjab government would hand over the probe to the central agency.

“We have no objection on any central agency conducting the probe...we share all information (related to the terror attack) with the central agency on a daily basis,” he said.

He stressed that the government is firm to maintain peace in the state.

However, he said: “We have certain limitations...it’s the Centre which should see what steps they need to take to prevent states from terror strike.” 

It is understood that the Punjab government is conducting its own probe into the  Gurdaspur terror attack case and sharing every information with the central agencies.

On being pressed that the NIA wants to conduct a probe, Badal said: “We have no objection, but our government will also continue parallel inquiry in the Gurdaspur attack case.”

The Home Ministry is pitching for handing over the investigation to the specialised anti-terror probe agency NIA and has recently requested the Punjab government in this connection.

Three terrorists, suspected to be members of either Pakistan-based LeT or JeM, in Army fatigues first targeted a roadside eatery, then sprayed bullets on a passenger bus and later barged into Dinanagar police station in Gurdaspur. Seven persons, including SP (Detective) Baljit Singh, were killed in the attack on July 27.