Grenade attack at BJP leader Kalia’s house: Jalandhar court extends main accused’s remand by 8 days
Assistant commissioner of police Aarish Bhatia said the police had sought Saidul Ameen’s remand for 10 days but the court gave his custody for eight days
The police remand of the main accused in the grenade attack case at the residence of former minister and BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia has been extended by eight days.
The Jalandhar commissionerate police produced Saidul Ameen, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, in the local court which sent him to a police custody for eight days more in Kalia’s case. Ameen, who was arrested on April 12, was earlier sent to police remand for seven days.
Assistant commissioner of police Aarish Bhatia said the police had sought Saidul Ameen’s remand for 10 days but the court gave his custody for eight days.
“The new facts have come to fore during course of the investigation carried out on the basis of Ameen’s deposition during his earlier police custody. The operational details could not be shared at this stage,” Bhatia said.
Ameen was arrested by Punjab Police in a joint operation with the Delhi Police and central agencies on April 12. Two other arrested accused — Satish and Harry — were already sent to judicial custody on Saturday.
On April 7, a hand grenade was lobbed at Kalia’s residence, shattering glass panes and damaging vehicles. No one was injured in the blast.
A preliminary Punjab Police probe had revealed a larger conspiracy orchestrated by Pakistan’s ISI to disrupt communal harmony in Punjab. The police have claimed that the plot was masterminded by Zeeshan Akhtar, a close associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and Pakistan-based ISI-sponsored gangster Shahzad Bhatti. The role of Pakistan-based Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) is also being probed. The ongoing probe has also revealed the financial link to the executors of the grenade attack under which the role of Haryana-based accused identified as Abhijot, who was arrested by the Haryana Police on April 11 after exchange of fire in Kurukshetra.
Army jawan sent to 3-day police custody
An army jawan Sukhcharan Singh (30), who was arrested on April 15 for providing online grenade training to the assailant in grenade lobbying incident at Rozer Sandhu’s house was remanded in police custody for three more days on Sunday.
He was accused of giving training to the accused who lobbed a hand grenade at the residence of the YouTuber on March 16.
Sukhcharan, a resident of Muktsar, was recruited in the army in 2015, and was deployed with the 3rd Sikh Light Infantry in Jammu & Kashmir.
Police said Sukhcharan’s name had surfaced during the interrogation of the main accused, Hardik Kamboj, who hurled the grenade at Sandhu’s residence.
Though no casualties or damage to property were reported in the incident as the grenade did not explode, nine persons have so far been arrested in this case. Sukhcharan has also been nominated in the case.