The Jalandhar Police have arrested an Army jawan posted in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, for allegedly imparting training to an accused who threw a grenade at the house of YouTuber Roger Sandhu in Jalandhar on the intervening night of March 15-16.
A senior police officer said that the accused has been indentified as Sepoy Sukhcharan Singh alias Nikka alias Deepu alias fauji aged 30 years and belongs to Muktsar Sahib district and is presently posted with 163 Infantry Brigade in Rajouri.
“We apprised the Army authorities of the evidence against the jawan and they gave us his custody. He has been produced before a Jalandhar court and has been sent on five days police remand,” a police officer said.
As per initial investigations, the jawan became Instagram friends with the youth who threw the grenade. He is alleged to have imparted online training with a dummy grenade and then showed how to use an actual grenade. “Since he is a trained Army jawan he was well versed with how to use such arms and ammunition. Further details about his involvement will be known through his custodial interrogation,” the officer added.
Pakistani gangster Shehzad Bhatti had taken responsibility of the attack on Roger Sandhu in Raipir Rasoolpur village of Jalandhar. Seven people have already been arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with the crime.
Bhatti had uploaded videos of the attack on his Instagram account along with a video statement in which he took credit for the attack charging the YouTuber of having used objectionable words for Muslims. He had also thanked gangster Zeeshan Akhtar, an associate of overseas gangster Happy Passia for having helped in the attack.
Since November 2024, Punjab has experienced a surge in grenade attacks, with at least 16 incidents reported by April this year, targeting police stations, religious sites, residences, and political figures.
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These attacks, primarily in border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, and Jalandhar, have raised concerns about the deteriorating law and order, with opposition parties criticising the AAP government’s handling of security.
Punjab Police investigations point to the hand of foreign-based terror modules on the attacks, primarily Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), orchestrated by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
