Grenade blast case: Accused carried out recce of house no. 575 in Chandigarh, launched attack after one day, says NIA

The NIA counsel submitted in the application that the accused persons in the case were examined during police custody and the investigation carried out so far has revealed that accused Vishal Masih and Rohan Masih are involved in larger criminal conspiracy hatched by foreign-based accused Harwinder Singh, alias Rinda, and Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passian, to kill a retired Punjab Police personnel in Chandigarh.

The NIA said that they (accused) “carried out the recce of house no. 575 situated in Sector 10/D Chandigarh on September 9, 2024 and carried out the grenade attack at the said house on September 11, 2024 on the directions of accused Happy Passian based in USA. It has also been established that accused Rohan Masih and Vishal Masih were involved in a firing incident on a businessman of Ramdas, Punjab”.

The NIA told the court that during the investigation, statements of witnesses are being recorded and ground verification of the facts disclosed by accused person in police custody is being carried out. It has revealed that accused Rohan Masih and Vishal Masih were provided with funds, weapons and explosives to execute terror acts in Punjab and Chandigarh. Also, it has emerged that accused Rohan Masih had been carrying out recce of house no. 575 situated in Sector 10/D Chandigarh since June 2024 with another associate of accused Happy Passian.

“Custodial interrogation of accused Rohan and Vishai Masih is required to identify the person who accompanied him during the recce and to know the whereabouts of weapons (two pistols) which are in exclusive knowledge of accused persons and are yet to be recovered,” submitted the NIA counsel, adding that the production warrant of the accused is required.

On hearing the contention, the court of Alka Malik, Special NIA Judge, allowed the application and ordered, “Let accused Rohan Masih and Vishal Masih, alias Shalu, be summoned through production warrants for February 25, 2025, directing the Superintendent, Model Jail, Burail, Chandigarh to produce them before this court.”

The case was registered for alleged commission of offence punishable under Section 13, 16 UA (P) Act, 1967 and Sections 109 (attempt to murder), 351 (2) (criminal intimidation), 333 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 61 (criminal conspiracy) of BNS and Section 3, 4, 5 & 6 of the Explosive Substance Act, 1908.

The initial investigation was done by the Chandigarh Police, which revealed that the grenade attack was carried out on the directions of a designated terrorist, Harwinder Singh Sandhu, alias Rinda, of Babbar Khalsa International, a designated terrorist organisation, based in Pakistan in collusion with one Happy Passian, a gangster turned terrorist and presently based in the United States, through their operatives in Punjab. The case probe was later taken over by the NIA.