CHANDIGARH: An Army jawan has been arrested by the Punjab Police for allegedly providing online training to the accused who lobbed a hand grenade at the residence of a Jalandhar-based YouTuber last month. He has been sent to five-day police remand by a local court.
Sources said the jawan Sukhcharan Singh, 30, who hails from Muktsar had joined the Army in 2015 and was presently deployed with the 3rd Sikh Light Infantry in Jammu & Kashmir.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Jalandhar Rural) Harvinder Singh Virk said that the name of Sukhcharan surfaced during the interrogation of the main accused, Hardik Kamboj, who hurled the grenade at YouTuber Rozer Sandhu’s residence.
"Both Sukhcharan and Hardik had come in touch with each other through social media. Hardik revealed that Sukhcharan had provided training on removing the grenade pin via video calls. The army has been apprised about the jawan’s role in the matter, as per the procedure," he said.
Virk said that nine persons have been arrested in the case so far.
No casualties or damage to property were reported in the incident as the grenade did not explode.
On the intervening night of March 15 and 16, a hand grenade was hurled at the residence of Sandhu.
Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti had claimed responsibility for the attack at the residence of the YouTuber for allegedly using derogatory language against Muslims.
Bhatti had shared a video on his Instagram profile in which Kamboj was purportedly being trained to remove the pin from the grenade at the crime spot itself. But as Kamboj haphazardly hurled the grenade without removing the pin, it failed to detonate.
Kamboj was arrested in Yamunanagar. He was injured in police firing after he allegedly opened fire towards cops when taken for weapon recovery on March 18.
A case was registered against 18 persons under Section 109 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 3,4, 5 of the Explosives Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) at the Maqsudan police station.