Chandigarh, April 5 – The Punjab Police’s Counter Intelligence Wing, in a joint operation with the Chandigarh Police and with the assistance of the Haryana Police, has arrested the two main perpetrators who threw a hand grenade outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Chandigarh, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday.
The two arrested individuals are Gurtej Singh and Amanpreet Singh, both residents of Rattangarh in Ropar. They were arrested in Rewari, Haryana. Accused Amanpreet Singh has a prior criminal record, with first information reports (FIRs) of theft and snatching registered against him in Mohali and Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, respectively.
Their arrest came a day after five accused, identified as Balwinder Lal, Jasvir Singh, Charanjit Singh, Rubal Chauhan, and Mandeep, involved in this case were arrested, and one hand grenade along with one .30 bore Zigana pistol were recovered from their possession.
DGP Yadav told the media here that with these two more arrests, all seven accused involved in the case are now in police custody. He said the accused had been motivated and directed by ISI-backed foreign-based handlers, Baljot Singh, alias Jot, in Portugal and Harjeet Singh Laadi in Germany, and were promised a monetary reward of Rs 2 lakh for carrying out the attack.
Acting on the instructions of their foreign-based handlers, the accused coordinated the delivery and execution of the attack, he said, adding that the accused used multiple cutouts and sub-modules to execute the attack.
DGP Yadav said during preliminary questioning, the accused Gurtej Singh disclosed that he had come in contact with a foreign-based handler approximately six months ago via a social media platform.
Acting on the handler’s instructions, Gurtej, along with his co-accused Rubal Chauhan and Mandeep, collected the consignment of arms and grenades from Jasvir in Bharapur village in SBS Nagar on March 28, he said, adding that Gurtej subsequently took Amanpreet Singh along to carry out the attack.
The DGP said that on April 1, after conducting a recce, Amanpreet Singh hurled the grenade, while Gurtej Singh recorded the act on his mobile phone at the handler’s behest. Both accused thereafter fled the scene.