Petrol bomb hurled at BJP couple’s clinic in Punjab’s Bathinda

Two masked suspects spotted on CCTV recording the attack; Pakistan-linked gangster allegedly issues threat over midnight phone call.

Two unidentified masked men threw a petrol bomb at a clinic owned by a homeopathic practitioner couple associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bathinda’s Vishal Nagar on Monday night. While no one was injured in the attack, a scooter parked outside the premises was damaged before staff members managed to extinguish the flames.

Residents gather outside the clinic of homeopathic practitioners Tarsem Garg and Rajni Jindal, who are recently shifted allegiance from the AAP to the BJP, after the petrol bomb attack in Bathinda on Monday night. (Sanjeev Kumar/HT)

The incident occurred while chief minister Bhagwant Mann was staying overnight in the town ahead of scheduled public functions.

Police teams tracking CCTV footage said two men approached the scene on foot, with one throwing the crude explosive while his accomplice recorded a video of the act.

The clinic is located opposite the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) office.

The targets of the attack, Rajni Jindal—an executive member of the BJP’s district unit—and her husband Tarsem Garg, who serves as the chief warden of the Bathinda civil defence corps, had recently joined the BJP after leaving the Aam Aadmi Party.

Following the blast around midnight, Garg received a threatening WhatsApp call and subsequent text message from an individual identifying himself as Shahzad Bhatti, an alleged Pakistan-based gangster backed by the ISI. Garg said that while his staff typically stays overnight at the clinic, he had broken his recent routine of sleeping in his retiring room there to stay at his home on the night of the attack, raising suspicions that his movements were being monitored.

The Kotwali police have registered a case under various sections, including attempt to murder, mischief by fire or explosives, of the BNS and the Explosives Act, with special teams deployed after securing vital clues regarding the culprits.