Amritsar
A separate case was subsequently registered at Ramdas police station in connection with the firing. Investigators further alleged that Passia coordinated the attack from abroad with his Singapore-based associate Manpreet Singh, alias Sandy, who in turn allegedly worked with local operatives to execute the grenade attack. Punjab Police have solved the August 20 grenade attack at Jatta village under the Ramdas police station jurisdiction in Amritsar rural district, arresting three persons, including the mother of Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passia, gangster-turned-terrorist linked to the proscribed group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Pakistan’s ISI, officials said on Tuesday. Two motorcycle-borne assailants hurled grenades at the residence of Daljit Singh, a local resident with a criminal background, around 8.30pm on August 20, according to the police. Following the attack, police registered a first information report (FIR) at Ramdas police station under Sections 48, 111, 109, 351(3), 324(5), 61(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), besides Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosives Act. Tensions allegedly intensified on August 18 when four residents of Jatta village — Gurpinder Singh, Parminder Singh, Daljit Singh and Jobanjit Singh — allegedly fired shots in the air outside Passia’s family residence during a local fair in Pashia village. Jobanpreet Singh was arrested on August 22 in that case.
Gill said interrogation of the arrested suspects, along with technical investigation, helped police piece together a sequence of retaliatory incidents between two rival factions. Police said Passia, who is based abroad, opposed the present village panchayat during the recent elections. The firing incident prompted Passia’s mother, Bhupinder Kaur, and his sister, Kirandeep Kaur, to allegedly plan retaliation, according to the police.
Addressing a press conference in Amritsar, border range deputy inspector general (DIG) Harmanbir Singh Gill said the investigation established that the attack was allegedly carried out as an act of revenge following a dispute linked to the recent village panchayat elections.
