Chandigarh: Punjab Police, in a joint operation with Chandigarh Police and Haryana Police, have arrested the two main perpetrators behind the recent grenade attack outside the BJP office in Sector 37, Chandigarh, taking the total number of arrests accused to seven.
Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the two key accused—Amanpreet Singh and Gurtej Singh, both residents of Rattangarh in Rupnagar—were apprehended from Rewari in Haryana. Amanpreet Singh allegedly hurled the grenade, while Gurtej Singh recorded the act on his mobile phone.
The arrests come a day after five other accused—Balwinder Lal alias Shami, Jasvir Singh alias Jassi, Charanjit Singh alias Channi, Rubal Chauhan, and Mandeep alias Abhijot Sharma—were taken into custody. Police had also recovered one hand grenade and a .30 bore Zigana pistol from their possession.
With the latest action, all seven accused involved in the case are now in police custody, the DGP confirmed.
According to police, the accused were allegedly acting under the direction of ISI-backed foreign handlers, identified as Baljot Singh alias Jot based in Portugal and Harjeet Singh Laadi based in Germany. They were reportedly promised ₹2 lakh for carrying out the attack.
Investigations revealed that Gurtej Singh had come in contact with a foreign handler through social media about six months ago. Acting on instructions, he, along with associates, collected arms and explosives from a contact in SBS Nagar on March 28. Subsequently, he involved Amanpreet Singh in executing the attack.
On April 1, after conducting reconnaissance of the area, Amanpreet allegedly hurled the grenade, while Gurtej recorded the incident at the handler’s behest. Both fled the scene immediately after the attack.
DGP Yadav said the operation involved coordination between multiple modules and cutouts, indicating a well-planned conspiracy. He credited the cooperation of Chandigarh Police and the Special Task Force of Haryana Police for successfully unraveling the case and apprehending all those involved.
