Jaintipur grenade attack victim had complained of threats to cops a fortnight back
Congress leader Amandeep Jaintipur, who was targeted, is a leading liquor contractor of the area. He had alleged extortion calls by gangster Happy Passia.
3 min read
Amandeep Jaintipur complained to the police about threats from gangster Happy Passia. (Express Photo)Amandeep Jaintipur, the Congress leader whose house was targeted in a grenade attack on Wednesday evening, had complained to the police around two weeks back alleging that he was receiving threats from gangster Happy Passia for extortion of money.
Senior police officials informed that Amandeep had approached the local police seeking protection and had also given recordings of the phone calls he had received from the gangster. “It is being investigated as to what action was taken by the Amritsar Rural Police with regard to the complaint made by Amandeep and if it was followed up properly,” a police official said.
CCTV footage shared by SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia on social media platform X last evening showed three motorcycle borne persons arriving outside the house of Amandeep and one of them dismounting and lobbing an explosive device at the house. The device exploded causing some damage though Amandeep and his family members were not present inside the house at the time.
— Bikram Singh Majithia (@bsmajithia) January 15, 2025
“We are investigating this incident as an extortion attempt. There have been earlier instances too of this family being threatened to extort money. Pappu Jaintipur, father of Amandeep who passed away in 2024 due to natural reasons, was a prominent liquor contractor of the area and had faced threats earlier too. Amandeep is also a big liquor contractor in the area and he too appears to have been targeted for extortion,” a senior official said.
Meanwhile, Congress MP from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said the laxity on part of police was responsible for this latest attack in Jaintipur. “Why did the police not take Amandeep’s complaint seriously when he went to them with proof that he was being threatened by the Happy Passia gang? That gang has now publicly taken responsibility for the attack. This shows that the police are hand in glove with the culprits,” he alleged.
Meanwhile police officials say this case will also be solved soon just as all the previous grenade attack cases were. When asked about intelligence inputs which claim that a consignment of 50 grenades was received through drones in Punjab to spread terror in the state, a senior police official said that such inputs are received from time to time. “We have been making seizures of grenades too and the fact is that even though there is considerable increase in the interception if drones flying in from across the border with Pakistan, there are still many drones which get through and deliver their consignments of arms and ammunition,” the officer said.
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