Amritsar:
Two incidents – one fire and one blast – shook Punjab’s Amritsar and Jalandhar on Tuesday night, both occurring in close proximity of defence establishments.
The first incident was reported around 8 pm outside the main gate of the Border Security Force (BSF) headquarters in Jalandhar, when a scooter parked outside the defence establishement’s headquarters caught fire, creating panic in the area. Impact of the blast was felt till almost 300 metres away, with the windows of a car and the glass panes of a shop being shattered and cracks appearing in several other glass surfaces.
Though eyewitnesses said they heard a blast-like sound that was heard till a kilometre away, Kaur said it is too early to say so. “Prima facie, the facts are that an Activa (scooter) parked here (Jalandhar) caught fire. We are still verifying the facts on the ground,” Jalandhar Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur said.
🔴#BREAKING | Twin blasts rock Punjab: After Jalandhar, blast near cantonment area in Amritsar, no casualties reported, as per cops
NDTV’s @Gurpreet_Chhina joins @reetksahni with more details pic.twitter.com/6hBHOw9RTm
— NDTV (@ndtv) May 6, 2026
One of the relatives said Gurpreet Singh, who was riding the scooter, comes to the area daily to deliver food parcels. On Tuesday evening, when he was approaching his parked scooter, it suddenly caught fire. Gurpreet then rang up his father and informed him about the incident.
Kaur also said that it is too early to ascertain if the blast was part of any conspiracy. “We cannot confirm anything at the moment. We are investigating from all angles. If new details emerge, we will share them,” she said.
The high-security location of the incident has added urgency to an already serious situation. CCTV footage from the surrounding area is being closely analyzed, and all possible angles – including technical faults and external interference – are under scrutiny.
Fire officials noted that the blaze was unusually intense, requiring multiple water units to fully extinguish it.
Over two hours later and 100 kilometres away, an explosion occurred along the outer wall of the Army’s Khasa Camp on Amritsar’s Attari Road. Suhail Qasim Mir, Amritsar Rural Senior Superintendent of Police, said fragments resembling a sheet of metal were found embedded in the boundary wall at the site of the explosion, indicating that someone had thrown an explosive device towards the wall which caused the blast.
Preliminary information also indicated that masked individuals carried out the attack and then ran away from the scene.
Amritsar Rural SP Aditya Warrier did not comment on whether that was a potential connection between this incident and the Jalandhar fire.
No injuries were reported in both incidents.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring claimed that the “explosion” is deeply alarming, while Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia asked if law and order in a border state has collapsed.
The explosion near the Border Security Force headquarters in Jalandhar is deeply alarming. A blast in a delivery scooter in a crowded area exposes a serious collapse of law and order.
Punjab is a sensitive border state—such incidents raise grave national security concerns. Yet,…
— Amarinder Singh Raja Warring (@RajaBrar_INC) May 5, 2026
Punjab BJP General Secretary Parminder Singh Brar criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, saying governance cannot be replaced by “optics and theatrics”. Congress leader and Punjab MLA Partap Singh Bajwa said, “The explosion in Jalandhar is deeply alarming. Incidents like these point to serious lapses in safety and vigilance. The government must stop reacting after the fact and start taking proactive, visible steps to secure lives and restore public confidence. Wish a speedy recovery to the injured BSF jawan.”
