16 grenade attacks in 7 months keep Punjab cops on toes

Sixteen grenade attacks in the past seven months in Punjab have kept the cops on their toes giving the opposition a handle to slam the Aam Aadmi Party government over the law and order situation in the border state.

Of the sixteen attacks, 11 have been on police installations.

Although there has been no loss of life or injury in these attacks, however, the frequency and no let-up in the incidents have emerged as a major concern for Punjab Police.

Almost all the cases, barring the April 2 attack on the Badshahpur police post in Patiala, have been solved with police managing to arrest the perpetrators and identify the modules being operated from foreign shores.

The series of blasts started in September from Chandigarh when a grenade was hurled at a house, allegedly orchestrated by US-based gangster Harpreet Singh (Happy Passia) and Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda. Though the case pertains to Chandigarh police, Punjab Police promptly arrested the key accused who hailed from Gurdaspur district.

“In all the cases terrorist modules sitting in foreign countries, on the directions of Pakistan-based elements have targeted majorly police instalments,” a senior police official said, on the condition of anonymity.

“Till now, a total of eight modules have been busted by police in which three modules of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) and four modules of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) were behind the initial 10 attacks which all were primarily on police installations across the state,” the police officer added.

According to police, the ISI-backed BKI terror module was being operated by foreign-based Happy Passia and Shamsher alias Honey.

Special DGP (law and order) Arpit Shukla denied ‘intelligence failure’ during a press conference and said the police have been proactive in solving all the cases.

“Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is hell-bent on ruining the communal harmony in Punjab and is trying everything possible,” Shukla said.

Three of the accused, Varinder Singh, Gurwinder Singh, and Jashanpreet Singh, involved in the attack at the Bakshiwala police post in Gurdaspur on December 8, were killed in an encounter in Pilibhit.

What has baffled the senior cops is that the youngsters are being lured into the trap by the foreign modules with money.

“There seems to be no fear in the minds of youngsters who have been throwing grenades just for a few bucks,” a senior police official admitted.

Bigger role of foreign handlers

The Punjab Police has also booked a British Sikh identified as Jagjeet Singh in two FIRs related to grenade attacks on police posts in Gurdaspur district under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

According to a Punjab Police Jagjeet Singh, is an associate of Pakistan Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) head Ranjeet Singh Neeta and is a member of a self-proclaimed “Surveillance and Reconnaissance Unit” under KZF.

He handled the group of youth who hurled a grenade on December 18 at Bakshiwala and Wadala Bangar police post on December 20 last year.

Interestingly, in Tuesday’s case of an attack on veteran BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia’s house, Punjab Police, for the first time, has named jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi as the mastermind. According to cops, Pakistan-based gangster Shehzad Bhatti and Bishnoi’s aide Zeeshan Akhtar have emerged as the fresh nexus.

“This grenade blast appears more intense as compared to the previous one,” a cop involved in probing the case said, pleading anonymity.