Three named in NIA charge sheet over March 15 Amritsar temple grenade attack

Vishal Gill, Bhagwant Singh, and Diwan Singh have been named in a charge sheet filed on Friday before a Mohali special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against three suspects in the March 15 grenade attack on the Thakur Dwara temple in Amritsar.

According to the agency, the probe has also revealed the transfer of terror funds from foreign handlers to local operatives through UPI and MTSS channels, which are being further probed.

Two motorcycle-borne masked men — Gursidak Singh and Vishal Gill — had allegedly carried out the grenade attack on the Thakurdwara Sanatan temple on Sher Shah Suri Road in the Khandwala area on March 15, and it is suspected that Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) operatives were behind the attack, police said.

Though no one was injured, the blast damaged the walls and shattered the windowpanes of the temple, triggering panic in the area.

Vishal Gill, Bhagwant Singh, and Diwan Singh have been named in a charge sheet filed on Friday before a Mohali special NIA court. “As per the charge sheet, Bhagwant Singh alias Manna Bhatti had facilitated the attackers by providing shelter, safe concealment of grenades, motorcycles for reconnaissance, and logistical support before and after the attack. Diwan Singh alias Sunny has been chargesheeted for his role in harbouring the co-accused and destruction of evidence,” an NIA spokesperson said in a statement.

Gursidak alias Sidak, was killed in an exchange of fire with police at Bal Sachander village near Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport on March 17.

Sharanjeet Kumar, another key accused, was arrested by NIA from Bihar’s Gaya on September 5. A consignment of four grenades was allegedly received by Sharanjeet from another arrested accused in Batala, Gurdaspur, on March 1. He, in turn, handed over one grenade to Gursidak and Vishal just two days before the attack. “Investigations against him and foreign-based absconding accused — Badalpreet Singh — are continuing,” the spokesperson said.

According to the agency, the probe has also revealed the transfer of terror funds from foreign handlers to local operatives through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) channels, which are being further probed.

“NIA investigations in the case so far have revealed a conspiracy by terrorist handlers, based in Europe, USA, and Canada, behind the attack. The handlers were actively providing terror hardware, funds, logistical support, and target details to their on-ground operatives in India to unleash terror in Punjab and other parts of the country,” a statement issued by NIA earlier said.