Chandigarh, Aug. 2 -- A loud explosion-like sound outside the residence of former Punjab BJP president and Pathankot MLA Ashwani Sharma triggered a major security response on Sunday before police concluded that the incident was caused by a high-intensity firecracker, ruling out any terror or criminal conspiracy.
The incident briefly raised fresh concerns as it came barely days after an attack on the BJP's district office in Sangrur and months after a grenade attack outside the party's Punjab headquarters in Chandigarh. The sequence of incidents prompted security agencies to initially treat Sunday's episode as a potentially serious breach.
Police, intelligence officials, forensic experts and a bomb disposal squad rushed to Sharma's residen...