Sector 10 grenade attack: NIA finds incriminating chats, videos, foreign numbers in mobile phones of accused

The forensic report has since been received and analysed, revealing new details about the accused’s role in the case. During witness examinations, vital new facts came to light, and the agency found incriminating chats, videos, photos, and foreign numbers saved in their WhatsApp contact lists. The NIA contended that the accused needed to explain this material.

The agency, through its Senior Public Prosecutor, Urfi Massood Syed, argued that a detailed interrogation of the accused was necessary to uncover further facts that had surfaced during field investigations. The court was informed that a deeper probe was required to clarify the suspicious and incriminating data found in the extracted mobile phone reports.

After hearing the arguments, Special NIA Judge Alka Malik allowed the application and ordered, “Let accused Rohan Masih and Vishal Masih alias Shalu be summoned through production warrants for January 31, 2025, directing the Superintendent, Model Jail, Burail, Chandigarh, to produce them before this court.”

The case was registered under Section 13 and 16 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, along with Sections 109 (abetment), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 333 (house trespass after preparation for assault), and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as Sections 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.

The initial investigation by Chandigarh Police revealed that the grenade attack was carried out on the orders of designated terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda of Babbar Khalsa International, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation. The attack was allegedly orchestrated in collaboration with Happy Passian, a gangster-turned-terrorist currently based in the United States, through their operatives in Punjab. The case was later handed over to the NIA.