Grenade attack at Punjab BJP leader Kalia’s residence: Cops track main accused to UP’s Budaun district

Punjab Police identified Shahdar Ali as the main assailant in the grenade attack on BJP leader Kalia, linking it to ISI and gang conspiracies.

Two days after the attack at the residence of BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia, the Punjab Police have identified a Budaun district resident as the main assailant who lobbed the grenade and nominated him in the case.

Jalandhar commissioner of police Dhanpreet Kaur Randhawa said: “We have the CCTV footage of the main accused, based on which the investigation is being carried out. The telephone number of the main accused has also been tracked.”

The Jalandhar police have also added section 113 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in already registered FIR. The initial FIR was registered under sections 109 (attempt to murder), 324(3) (mischief-causing damage to the property) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS and sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act.

Police officials, privy to the probe, on the condition of anonymity said that the main assailant has been identified as Shahdar Ali of Risauli village in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh.

However, there is no official word in this regard.

Senior officials did confirm that based on surveillance cam footage they have managed to track down the accused to UP.

Jalandhar commissioner of police Dhanpreet Kaur Randhawa said: “We have the CCTV footage of the main accused, based on which the investigation is being carried out. The telephone number of the main accused has also been tracked.”

Randhawa didn’t disclose the accused’s name and said “It can’t be shared at this stage as it might hamper the investigation.”

Police officials said the main accused arrived in Jalandhar on April 5.

“He conducted a recce of Kalia’s residence besides putting up in a hotel near the bus stand. Trailing the CCTV footage, it came to the fore that after hurling the grenade, the main accused accompanied by another accused Satish, the e-rickshaw driver, changed clothes before entering the Jalandhar railway station and boarding a Ludhiana-Saharanpur-Meerut bound train,” an official said.

E-rickshaw driver paid via UPI

Two arrested accused Satish alias Kaka and his cousin Ravinder Kumar alias Harry, who are in police custody for six days, in their interrogation revealed that the main accused made the payment of ₹3,500 through a UPI transaction.

“The main accused called his associate in UP to make the digital payment of ₹3,500 to Harry, who withdrew this amount from the local ATM and handed it over to the assailant again. The cellphone used for the UPI transaction has been traced to Uttar Pradesh,” an official said.

Police said the main accused met Satish at the bus stand and it was Satish, who contacted Harry, using the mobile phone of the UP man and asked him to join them.

“The arrested accused told police that the grenade was brought by the main attacker,” a police official said who didn’t wish to be named.

In the preliminary investigation, the Punjab police said it was a conspiracy hatched by Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, including Zeeshan Akhtar, who is also wanted in the murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, and Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti, to create communal tension in Punjab.

Police have not ruled out the possible links of the accused with Pakistan-based Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) mastermind Harwinder Singh alias Rinda and gangster Happy Passia.

Punjab has witnessed at least 16 grenade attacks in the past seven months. In most cases, police installations have been targeted.