Teenaged boy in Punjab succumbs to blast injuries

Chandigarh, March 31 : A 14-year-old boy on Friday succumbed to injuries sustained in a blast in Punjab's Maur Mandi town two months ago.

Ankush Kumar, who was undergoing treatment at DMC Hospital in Ludhiana after he was critically injured in the blast on January 31 at Maur Mandi town in Bathinda district, breathed his last early on Friday.

With his death, the toll in the blast has gone up to seven.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday condoled the boy's death.

The blast in a Maruti 800 car took place on January 31 evening, when election campaigning was at its peak for the February 4 assembly polls in Punjab.

The target of the blast was Congress candidate and former legislator Harminder Singh Jassi, a relative of Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

However, Jassi escaped unhurt in the blast while others who were standing near the car became the victims.

The dead included five children.

The Punjab Police, investigating the blast, have not made any arrest so far and hinted that the blast could be the handiwork of Khalistani operatives.