Two Key Perpetrators Arrested In Chandigarh BJP Office Blast Case, Seven Held So Far

The blast took place on April 1 at around 5 pm outside the BJP office in Sector 37, Chandigarh.

Image from outside BJP Chandigarh office after blast (Credits: CNN News 18)

Punjab Police have arrested two alleged perpetrators in connection with the blast outside the BJP’s state headquarters in Chandigarh, taking the total number of arrests in the case to seven, officials said on Sunday.

The latest arrests were made in a joint operation with Haryana Police on the night of April 4. The accused, Gurtej Singh and Amanpreet Singh, were picked up from Rewari in Haryana, according to Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav.

Both men are originally from Morinda in Punjab’s Rupnagar district and were working as bike riders with Rapido. Police said they were part of a module allegedly backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), with handlers operating from Germany and Portugal.

Earlier, five other accused including Mandeep, Rubal Chauhan, Charanjit Singh, Jasvir Singh and Balwinder, had already been arrested in the case.

The blast took place on April 1 at around 5 pm outside the BJP office in Sector 37, Chandigarh. While no one was injured, the explosion damaged vehicles parked nearby. Police initially suspected a crude bomb, but later confirmed it was a hand grenade.

Investigators said Gurtej had come in contact with a Portugal-based handler, Baljot Singh alias Jot, about six months ago through social media. He was later asked to collect a consignment of weapons from the Balachaur area in Punjab’s Nawanshahr district.

The consignment reportedly included two grenades, a pistol and ammunition. It was handed over by Jasvir Singh alias Jassi and received by Gurtej along with co-accused Mandeep and Rubal Chauhan.

Police said Gurtej carried out reconnaissance of the target on the instructions of his handler and later involved Amanpreet in the plan. Both were promised Rs 2 lakh each for carrying out the attack.

According to officials, Amanpreet threw the grenade at the site while Gurtej recorded the act on video. Their foreign handlers allegedly provided instructions through mobile phones and shared online videos showing how to use a grenade.

Investigators are now trying to trace the origin of the weapons and the wider network behind the supply chain. A senior officer said the consignment changed hands multiple times before reaching the accused.

On Saturday, Punjab Police’s Counter-Intelligence wing, in coordination with Chandigarh Police, said the case had been cracked. During the probe, one hand grenade and a .30 bore Zigana pistol along with ammunition were recovered.

The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Arms Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) police station in SAS Nagar.

Soon after the blast, a short video surfaced online showing one man pulling the pin of a grenade and throwing it, while another person filmed the act. The suspects’ faces were not visible in the clip, and they fled before the explosion. CCTV footage also captured the incident.

On the same day, Sukhjinder Singh Babbar of the banned Babbar Khalsa International claimed responsibility for the attack through a social media post.

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