A blast in Himachal exposed terror network built on Punjab youth at risk

The explosion, later claimed by banned Khalistani outfits such as Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Punjab Sovereignty Alliance (PSA) through an Instagram post, caused no casualties, officials say.

But in a state that rarely sees terrorist attacks, it did what it set out to do – send shockwaves across Himachal’s security establishment.

“It was not aimed at killing,” one officer of the Punjab Police, who was part of the investigation, told The Indian Express. “But it was intended to create fear, demonstrate the operational reach of the terror outfit and send a threatening message to the police establishment.”

The attack was Himachal’s second terror attack in two decades and the first time the state had seen a bomb blast. But the investigation in the case and the six arrests that followed showed something even more alarming: it revealed how cross-border terror networks had changed tack, recruiting Punjab’s drug-addicted youth to be foot soldiers for a strike engineered abroad. This terror attack was also significant because it was a breach in the security in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial corridor.

For investigators, the attack signalled the vulnerability of India’s security system against such sneak attacks. (Express Photo)

On August 13, India’s premier anti-terror agency, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), formally arrested three people, Mahavir Kumar alias Kaka, Ajay Mehra and Manpreet Singh alias Mani, in connection with the attack. Although all three had already been in judicial custody in Punjab, the arrests came on the back of a new FIR by the NIA.

Mahavir Singh alias Kaka and Manpreet Singh alias Mani, both residents of what was Punjab’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, are alleged to have executed the attack, while Ajay Mehra is stated to be an accomplice. They are three of six people arrested in connection with the case.

For investigators of the Himachal and Punjab Police, the explosion – and the subsequent findings – posed a new security challenge: how to prevent attacks planned abroad but executed by vulnerable local recruits with no past criminal records?

“In many cases, these people are not ideologically-driven terrorists,” one officer of the Punjab Police said. “They are often individuals trapped in drug addiction or financial desperation, and are persuaded to carry out specific assignments in exchange for money. The masterminds remain outside India, communicate through encrypted applications or intermediaries and ensure that the persons actually carrying out the operation know very little about the larger conspiracy.”

Baddi SP Vinod Kumar Dhiman – under whose jurisdiction Nalagarh falls – declined to comment.

STF personnel seized narcotics during a checking operation and weighed the seized narcotics on an electronic scaling device. (Express Photo)

The Nalagarh attack

Hours after the blast at Nalagarh, both Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Punjab Sovereignty Alliance (PSA) claimed it through an Instagram post. In it, the two outfits claimed that the attack was to “protest” the alleged manufacture of synthetic drugs in Himachal Pradesh and their supply to Punjab. The post claimed that the attack “was not against innocent people but against a corrupt system”.

“Despite the police administration being aware of such activities, no action was being taken, and young people were losing their lives because of drug addiction,” the post said.

Special Task Force (STF) of Himachal Pradesh Police conducted search operation in the area of Nalagarh and Baddi in Solan district. (Express Photo)

For the Himachal Police, the attack was an anomaly. The state had last seen a terrorist attack in 1998, when the proscribed Hizbul Mujahideen lined up and killed 35 Hindu villagers and injured 11 others in two separate late-night strikes inside Himachal Pradesh, prompting the long-term deployment of security forces like the ITBP along the remote border.

The social media post led Himachal police to seek help from their Punjab counterparts. On February 22, police made their first arrests — Mahavir Singh and Manpreet Singh.

“Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were acting on the directions of foreign-based masterminds Gopi Nawanshahria, Jassi Kulam and Sushant Chopra, who are associated with the banned terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa International,” Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said at a press briefing, adding that a 9MM Glock pistol and four live cartridges were found with the two arrested suspects.

But it was allegedly during the subsequent recovery that the police found what they thought was clinching evidence — a fully assembled 2.5-kilogram RDX-laden IED fitted with dual remote- and timer-based detonation mechanisms.

Investigators from the Punjab Police say that led them to a layered narco-terror module in which explosive consignments allegedly moved through a chain of low-level operatives before reaching the two men, now being seen as the suspects who planted the bomb. Soon, the police made four more arrests, all from SBS Nagar, like Kaka and Mani.

Sushant Chopra from SBS Nagar.

“Police of both states concluded that Nalagarh was chosen for the attack because of proximity to both Punjab and Haryana. Two suspects managed to enter Punjab within 1.5 hours of the attack,” one police officer said. “The other three helped move the explosives and arrange for motorcycles.”

The purported Instagram post from January 1 provided the next clue. The post mentioned two names — Gopi Nawanshahria and Kabal Singh – as having planned the attack. Investigators were already familiar with those names, especially that of Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Nawanshahria – a fugitive gangster allegedly connected with several firing incidents in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur and Mahilpur in December last year, and linked to one of the most notorious Khalistani terrorists, Harwinder Singh Rinda.

What was striking about the attack was how compartmentalised the network was. According to a senior Punjab police officer, several suspects arrested for transporting the explosives were simply carriers and were unaware of what their deliveries contained.

Investigators also found that the suspects were selected from a drug network that Nawanshahria allegedly ran in SBS Nagar.

“The movement of the explosives appears to have involved multiple persons, each performing a limited task,” the officer said. “One person receives the consignment, another transports it, a third arranges a motorcycle, and another identifies a drop-off before the material finally reaches its executors. This compartmentalised system is designed to make tracking the origin harder.”

Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Nawanshahria

Payment, too, was allegedly handled similarly. “The arrested were given hard cash for each task. The first suspect was left a packet of money and asked to drop it off for the second, and so on. Here, too, the suspects did not know what the packets contained,” the Punjab Police officer said.

What stunned investigators more were the assailants themselves: young, poor and, for the most part, with no criminal record.

“All six suspects were between 18 and 20 years and belonged to families of labourers,” the Punjab Police investigator said. “We found that they were substance abusers who had no recorded criminal antecedents. All suspects – including the two who executed the blast – were carefully handpicked.”

The brains behind the attack

For investigators, the attack signalled the vulnerability of India’s security system against such sneak attacks. What was especially concerning were the brains behind the attack: the so-called foreign-based handlers such as Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Nawanshahria, Jaspreet Singh alias Jassi Kulam and Sushant Chopra, all from SBS Nagar.

The most prominent among them, according to investigators, was Gopi Nawanshahria, long considered a close associate of Pakistan-based BKI terrorist Harwinder Singh alias Rinda. Investigators claim that Nawanshahria could have more than 25 criminal cases — including murder, robbery and dacoity – and is now stated to be hiding abroad while continuing his Punjab operations.

Among the most significant killings linked to him was the April 2024 murder of Rattandeep Singh, a prominent Khalistani terrorist and the former chief of the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTFK). Singh was shot dead in Punjab’s SBS Nagar, with the police still investigating the killing.

One of the two alleged executors, Mahavir Singh, originally belongs to Jharkhand. (Express Photo)

The second alleged handler, Jaspreet Singh alias Jassi Kulam, is believed to be a close associate of Nawanshahria. Originally from Kulam in SBS Nagar district’s Nawanshahr tehsil, Jassi is also suspected to have been involved in the April 2024 killing of Rattandeep Singh before fleeing to the United Arab Emirates.

The third suspect, Sushant Chopra, is believed to be living in the US. Investigators claim that Chopra, a resident of Rahon in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, ran drug operations for Nawanshahria, and has also been suspected of having played a role in the movement of terrorist hardware through Punjab-based associates.

Manpreet Singh alias Mani

One of the two alleged executors, Mahavir Singh, originally belongs to Jharkhand.

A crucial part of the investigation now is to determine whether the explosives came from across the border. At the same time, the Punjab Police now also have another problem to resolve: how to stop Punjab’s vulnerable youth from playing into the hands of terrorist networks.

“The significance of this case lies in understanding the ecosystem rather than merely identifying the two persons accused of planting the IED,” the senior Himachal Pradesh police officer said.