Chandigarh, April 4 (IANS) Punjab Police’s Counter Intelligence Wing, in a joint operation with the Chandigarh Police, have solved the Chandigarh grenade attack case on the BJP office with the arrest of five accused involved in the incident and recovered one hand grenade and one .30 bore Zigana pistol along with ammunition from their possession, State Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Saturday.

Those arrested have been identified as Balwinder Lal alias Shami, Jasvir Singh alias Jassi, Charanjit Singh alias Channi, Rubal Chauhan and Mandeep alias Abhijot Sharma.

DGP Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the module was backed by Pakistan’s ISI and operated under the directions of foreign-based handlers located in Portugal and Germany.

The accused were part of a structured network involving multiple cutouts and sub-modules to execute the attack, he added.

The DGP said that two main perpetrators involved in the attack have also been identified.

Further investigations are ongoing to establish forward and backward linkages in this case, he added.

As per the information, a grenade attack was carried out outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office at Sector-37 in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

Sharing more details, Assistant Inspector General (State Special Operations Cell), Deepak Pareek, said that the investigation has further revealed that the accused had transported a consignment containing hand grenades, arms and cartridges.

The consignment was circulated through multiple operatives before being handed over to the final perpetrators, he added.

The AIG said that acting on the directions of Portugal-based handler, the accused coordinated the delivery and execution of the attack.

Police teams are conducting raids to apprehend the absconding perpetrators involved in the attack, he added.

A first information report (FIR) dated April 3 was registered under Section 25(1) (B) of the Arms Act and Section 61 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in Mohali.

–IANS

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