3 injured in explosion on Lucknow court premises; crude bombs recovered

Three people sustained injuries when an explosion took place inside the district court complex in Lucknow on Thursday (February 13).

While one bomb went off, three other crude bombs were recovered from the court premises.

Lucknow Bar Association Joint Secretary Sanjiv Kumar Lodhi claimed he was the target of the attack because he had been complaining about a few judicial officers. He said about 10 people hurled crude bombs outside his chamber in which he and two other lawyers were injured.

The explosion took place in the Lucknow collectorate in Hazratganj, near the district magistrate’s office and barely a kilometre from the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha.

Scores of angry lawyers crowded the area following the incident. Wazirganj police, a bomb disposal squad and dog squad have reached the site of the blast and are probing the incident.

Last month, lawyers struck work in protest against the recent attacks on them in the state. The Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh had asked bar associations to abstain from work to put pressure on the government to pass legislation to protect lawyers.

On January 7, lawyer Shekhar Tripathi (32) was beaten to death with sticks by five men in Lucknow, triggering anger among his colleagues who sat with the body at the district collectorate demanding justice.

On December 17, a man was killed and two policemen injured when unidentified assailants opened fire at Bijnore CJM’s court.

(With inputs from agencies)