Main accused in Chandigarh grenade blast arrested, Khalistan link suspected: Report

The blast was reportedly targeted at a retired SP for his role in alleged extra-judicial killings during Punjab militancy.

The Punjab Police have arrested the main accused in the low-intensity explosion in a Chandigarh house on September 11 and claim to have solved the case.

Rohan Masih, a resident of Passia village in Amritsar, was nabbed in a joint operation with a central agency, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on September 13.

Masih was arrested from Amritsar and a Glock pistol along with ammunition was recovered from him.

“Punjab Police has arrested the main perpetrator of the Chandigarh grenade blast case. The case is solved with the nabbing of Rohan Masih and the identification of other accused,” DGP Yadav posted on social media platform X.

.@PunjabPoliceInd has arrested the main perpetrator of the #Chandigarh Grenade Blast case, in a joint operation with Central AgencyFurther investigation to unravel the entire conspiracy is being done jointly in coordination with the Chandigarh PolicePreliminary investigation pic.twitter.com/B4hq3xAbcK
DGP Punjab Police (@DGPPunjabPolice) September 13, 2024

Police sources told Hindustan Times that Masih, who worked as a carpenter in Jammu and Kashmir, was one of the two individuals suspected of hurling the grenade at a house in Sector 10. The other accused have been identified and efforts are on to track them.

The house, owned by 100-year-old KK Malhotra, a retired principal from Himachal Pradesh, was damaged in the explosion. Malhotra and his wife had a close shave, as they had from moved indoors from the veranda minutes before the grenade was thrown.

A day after the explosion, US-based Khalistani gangster Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passia, claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media post. He said it was an act of revenge against retired superintendent of police Jaskirat Singh Chahal for his role in police encounters during the days of militancy in Punjab.

Chahal, a tenant in the Sector 10 house until two years ago, was the station house officer (SHO) of Nakodar in 1986 when four All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) activists were killed in police firing, the report said.

The activists were protesting the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib. Pakistan-based terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International had been tasked with targeting Chahal, the report cited sources as saying.