(Amritsar) An explosion, the second in less than 48 hours, shook the surroundings of the Golden Temple, a sacred site for the Sikhs, in the Indian city of Amritsar on Monday morning, according to the police.
Authorities said the explosion, which occurred early Monday morning, caused no casualties or damage.
The police immediately began to investigate.
The previous explosion, which occurred overnight from Saturday to Sunday, injured at least one person in this city in northern Punjab state, which is predominantly Sikh.
The director general of Punjab police said the terrorist trail was not dismissed and that the first elements of the investigation suggested that a crude explosive device had been used.
“The explosion happened when a passerby accidentally pulled a rope,” Gaurav Yadav said. “The charge fell and exploded.”
The Golden Temple, erected within a vast artificial pond, is revered by Sikhs around the world.
But it has been the scene of violence on several occasions, notably when Indian special forces stormed it in 1984 to drive out Sikh militants who occupied it.
Worshipers told AFP that investigators arrived at the site on Monday to collect clues shortly after the explosion, which occurred when hundreds of people were already in the sanctuary.
“Events like this generate panic,” lamented Jasbir Singh Patti, a Sikh who visits the temple daily, “it is time for the police administration to act expeditiously to present the truth to the public.”
Several windows were shattered at the time of the explosion which occurred in the same area on the night of Saturday to Sunday. The site had welcomed around 200,000 visitors on Saturday.
Authorities in Punjab arrested a separatist Sikh preacher in late April in the north of the state after a month-long hunt by thousands of officers.
Amritpal Singh, 30, has made a name for himself in recent months by calling for the creation of Khalistan, a state claimed by Sikh separatists in Punjab, whose struggle sparked violence in the 1980s and 1990s that killed thousands of people. dead.
It was not possible to know if these recent explosions were linked to his arrest.