Attack on hospital in Kalanaur in Gurdaspur district

GURDASPUR : Panic gripped a hospital in the historical border town of Kalanaur in Gurdaspur district on Tuesday after an unidentified assailant allegedly hurled an explosive device into the emergency ward. While the hospital staff claim a grenade was thrown, senior police officials have downplayed the incident, confirming only that glass window panes were shattered.Following the attack, Dr Sant Parkash Singh Multani, Managing Director of Multani Hospital, informed that an unidentified person entered the hospital at around 2:30pm and hurled a grenade toward the emergency ward, triggering a blast that caused significant property damage.While Dr Multani said that there was fortunately no loss of life because the ward happened to be empty at the time, the explosion shattered glass window panes, tore up the flooring, and destroyed nearby stretchers and wheelchairs.The hospital chief strongly suspects that extortionists are behind the midday strike, disclosing that he had previously received ransom calls in August and October of last year from unidentified persons demanding money.He said he had reported those initial threats to police authorities but there was no follow up.Dr Multani admitted that the sudden lack of follow-up calls over the subsequent months gave him a false sense of security. "I was satisfied that they had forgotten but today’s grenade attack proved me wrong”, said he.He also claimed that some of the nearby hospitals also received ransom call and even one or two of them were also attacked in the past.Gurdaspur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Aditya confirmed that while the glass window panes of the hospital were completely shattered, he however didn't verify a grenade strike, maintaining that the exact nature of the blast will only be determined following a forensic investigation.The midday scare has gripped the border district with tension, drawing eerie parallels to past insurgent tactics in the region, which has previously witnessed a string of targeted grenade attacks on local police posts.