The Punjab Police in a joint operation with the central agencies on Friday cracked the Chandigarh grenade blast case masterminded by ISI-backed Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh alias Rinda of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and USA-based Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia with the arrest of a main perpetrator.

Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the arrested accused person has been identified as Rohan Masih, a resident of village Passia in Amritsar. Police teams have also recovered one sophisticated 9MM Glock pistol along with ammunition from his possession, he added.

On Wednesday evening, two unknown persons lobbed a hand grenade in Sector 10, Chandigarh. Chandigarh Police immediately reached the scene and conducted a spot investigation, revealing that two individuals arrived on an auto-rickshaw and one of them hurled the hand grenade in a house.

“The Hand Grenade used in this incident is a military grade equipment smuggled from across the border through drone with the help of ISI. Police have identified the other accused person as well, and raids are being conducted to nab him,” said the DGP, while reiterating fulsome cooperation to the Chandigarh Police in this case.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that accused Rohan, who has been working in Jammu and Kashmir from last few years, knew Happy Passia from their shared village. Happy Passia instructed Rohan to carry out the attack, promising financial rewards.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that during questioning, accused Rohan confessed to involvement in the grenade blast, revealing he acted at the behest of Happy Passia, who provided the hand grenade and weapons through his associates. Happy Passia had also arranged finances and logistics for them, he added.

He said that further investigation to unravel the entire conspiracy is being done jointly in coordination with the Chandigarh Police and Central Agencies.

Sharing more details, AIG State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Amritsar Sukhminder Singh Mann said that after committing the crime, accused Rohan and his associate had travelled first to Amritsar and thereafter, took their separate ways. Rohan initially went to his acquaintance in Khanna but had returned to Amritsar as he planned to further travel to J&K, he said, while adding that in the meantime he was arrested.

The AIG said that prima facie it appears that they were trying to target a specific person as the same terror group had attempted a similar attack at the same location last year. That attempt was successfully foiled by the Punjab Police with the arrest of two operatives identified as Bikramjit Singh alias Raja of Batala and Bawa Singh of Majitha, he added.

Courtesy: The Tribune India:14th Sep , 2024