BERLIN: A special commission has been set up to probe an explosion at a gurudwara in Germany as authorities in the western city of Essen assured India that all steps will be taken to ensure security for all minorities including the Sikhs.
Indian Consul General in Frankfurt Raveesh Kumar, who rushed to the Nanaksar Satsang Darbar Gurdwara following the attack, was apprised of the current level of investigation and the situation during meetings with Essen’s Mayor Thomas Kufen and Police Commissioner Frank Richter yesterday.
“We (police department) have set up a commission of inquiry and are thoroughly probing. The security for religious institutions will be beefed up,” Richter told Kumar, who visited the Sikh community to show solidarity besides holding talks with authorities.
The explosion ripped through the entrance hall of the gurdwara on Saturday evening during a wedding ceremony and severely damaged part of the building housing the gurudwara besides shattering several windowpanes and injuring three persons, including the Sikh priest or ‘granthi’.
India had expressed “distress” at what is being deemed as a deliberate act.
Police in Essen said in a statement that they are focussing their investigation on the possibility that the explosive device was planted inside the foyer of the gurudwara or lobbed into it from outside. They are searching for a masked man dressed in black, who was seen by eyewitnesses fleeing the area soon after the detonation.
Police said so far they have no indication that the attack on the gurudwara was racially motivated or whether it has any terrorist background.
Three occupants of a car parked near the gurudwara, who were taken into custody on suspicion of involvement in the explosion, were set free after questioning on Saturday night.(Agencies)
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