New Delhi: Days after an explosion took place outside the BJP office in Chandigarh, the city police and counter intelligence wing of the Punjab Police, in a joint operation, arrested five individuals allegedly involved in the incident, and recovered a hand grenade, pistol and ammunition.
Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said Saturday that preliminary investigations have revealed the module was backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and operated under directions of foreign-based handlers located in Portugal and Germany.
“The accused persons were part of a structured network involving multiple cutouts and sub-modules to execute the attack,” he added.
The arrested have been identified as Balwinder Lal alias Shami of Majari village in SBS Nagar, Jasvir Singh alias Jassi of Bharapur village in SBS Nagar, Charanjit Singh alias Channi of Sujawalpur village in SBS Nagar, Rubal Chauhan of Thana village in Shimla and Mandeep alias Abhijot Sharma of Dhuri town in Sangrur.
Two other key perpetrators allegedly involved in the attack, identified as Gurtej Singh and Amanpreet Singh, are absconding, and police teams are conducting raids to apprehend them.
On Wednesday, an explosion was heard around 5 pm at the BJP office in Chandigarh Sector 37. It led to panic but no one was injured. Police officials said the explosion caused minor damage to vehicles parked nearby, with visible impact marks on scooters and cars.
An unverified video that surfaced on social media Wednesday evening showed a man pulling the pin from a blue-coloured grenade and throwing it, while another person was recording the act. The duo is then seen fleeing moments before the blast.
In another unverified post on social media, one “Sukhjinder Singh Babbar” claimed responsibility for the explosion, hailing the “Khalsa Panth and establishment of Khalistan”.
According to the DGP, further investigations are ongoing to establish forward and backward linkages in the case.
Sharing more details, AIG State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) SAS Nagar Deepak Pareek said the probe has revealed that the arrested accused had transported a consignment containing hand grenades, arms and live cartridges. The consignment was circulated through multiple operatives before being handed over to the final perpetrators.
The AIG said that “acting on the directions of Portugal-based handler Baljot Singh alias Jot, the arrested accused persons coordinated the delivery and execution of the attack”. Police teams are conducting raids to apprehend the absconding, he added.
An FIR has been registered under sections of the Arms Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at SSOC police station, SAS Nagar.
In the course of investigation, joint police teams recovered one hand grenade and one Zigana 30 bore pistol, along with 10 live .30 bore cartridges. Further investigation is under way to uncover the complete network and trace the supply chain, the police said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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