In less than 12 hours, Punjab police have cracked the case of the explosion outside the house ofBJP leader Manoranjan Kalia on the intervening night of April 7-8. A senior police officer on Tuesday said that the two arrested suspects, who threw the grenade just a few meters away from Kalia’s house, were working as per the instructions of Zeeshan Akhtar, the mastermind of the attack. Akhtar is also involved in the killing of NCP leader Baba Siddique who died in October last year. Akhtar, who is a close aide of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, is still at large and is wanted by Mumbai police in connection with the murder of 66-year-old Mumbai MLA.
Arpit Shukla, Director General of Police (DGP), said that an auto rickshaw was also seized, which was allegedly used in the attack on Kalia late on Monday night. Pakistan’s ISI (expand) links have also surfaced in connection with the case, according to Punjab police sources. The attack, the sources said, was intended to disturb communal harmony.
Earlier it was reported that the attackers have links with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). As of now, the police are investigating links to Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Harvinder Singh alias Rinda and gangster Happy Pasia, a link with Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistani gangster Shahzad Bhatti also involved. The case is being probed as a cross-border planned attack.
Blast outside BJP leader #ManoranjanKalia‘s residence in Jalandhar
Moment of blast caught on cam—#WATCH
The impact of the blast can be seen; it is a high-impact blast…: @bhavatoshsingh shares more details with @MeenakshiUpreti pic.twitter.com/iOs2DiLJms
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) April 8, 2025
Earlier in the day, Deputy Commissioner of Police Manpreet Singh said a “loud sound” was heard at around 1 am at the residence of Kalia near Shastri Market in Jalandhar. “No one was hurt in the incident. The forensic team is investigating the matter.”
Speaking on the blast, BJP leader Kalia said it could be a hand-grenade. “The grenade attack was so severe that the partition in the house was severely damaged. The window glass of the kitchen was damaged. A bathroom door was damaged,” he added.
Kalia said he was sleeping when he heard the sound of the explosion, adding that initially he thought “it was a thunder”.
