CHANDIGARH: The grenade blast in Chandigarh that occurred on Wednesday evening at the residence of a 100-year-old retired principal from Himachal Pradesh has been resolved by the Punjab Police in a joint operation with central agencies.
The attack was 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 the main perpetrator.
The grenade was thrown at house number 575 in Sector 10, which belongs to 100-year-old KK Malhotra, who had retired as the principal of an institute in Himachal Pradesh.
Malhotra and his wife had a narrow escape, as they had been sitting on the verandah just minutes before the incident and had gone inside the house shortly before the blast occurred.
Director General of Police of Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, stated that the police had arrested the accused, Rohan Masih, who hails from Passia village in Amritsar.
“One sophisticated 9mm Glock pistol along with ammunition has been recovered from his possession. The hand grenade used in this incident is military-grade equipment smuggled from across the border through a drone with the help of the ISI. Police have identified the other accused person as well, and raids are being conducted to apprehend him,” Yadav said, reiterating full cooperation with the Chandigarh Police in this case.
Yadav added, “Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused Rohan, who has been working in Jammu and Kashmir for the past few years, knew Happy Passia from their shared village. Passia instructed Rohan to carry out the attack, promising financial rewards.”
He further stated that during questioning, Rohan confessed to his involvement in the grenade blast, revealing he acted at the behest of Passia, who provided the hand grenade and weapons through his associates.
“Passia had also arranged finances and logistics for them,” he added. He noted that further investigation to unravel the entire conspiracy is being conducted jointly with the Chandigarh Police and Central Agencies.
Sources indicated that the intended target might have been a retired superintendent of police from Punjab who previously resided in the house until last year but had since moved. Earlier, when two Khalistani operatives were arrested, they had mentioned conducting a reconnaissance of the house.
AIG State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Amritsar, Sukhminder Singh Mann, said that after committing the crime, the accused Rohan and his associate initially travelled to Amritsar before taking separate paths. Rohan first went to an acquaintance in Khanna but later returned to Amritsar as he planned to continue his journey to Jammu and Kashmir. He was arrested in the meantime.
Mann added that prima facie it appears they were attempting 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 concluded.