Chandigarh grenade attack: From US, Happy Passia trained attackers via Instagram video call

In March this year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the probe into the grenade attack from the Chandigarh Police, submitted a chargesheet against four accused, including Rinda and Happy Passia.

After his arrest in April, the FBI’s Sacramento office had said in a statement on X, “Today, Harpreet Singh, an alleged terrorist responsible for terror attacks in Punjab, India, was arrested by the #FBI & #ERO in Sacramento. Linked to two international terrorist groups, he entered the U.S. illegally and used burner phones to evade capture.”

Sharing details of the grenade attack with the law enforcement agencies in the US, one of the central agencies, that prepared the documents for Passia’s extradition, said in its report that the incident took place on September 11, 2024, when two assailants, identified as Rohan Masih and Vishal Masih, launched a grenade attack on a house in Sector 10-D, Chandigarh, while travelling in an autorickshaw, shattering the windowpanes of the house. There was no casualty.

“To probe the larger conspiracy, the Centre asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the case from the Chandigarh Police, and they later found that the attack was allegedly orchestrated by Rinda and Passia, who instructed the accused to conduct reconnaissance of the target location before executing the grenade attack,” a senior government official said, citing the report.

In its report, the agency has accused Rinda and Passia of being associated with BKI, gave details about its criminal history, and claimed that BKI’s objective is only to create an independent state of Khalistan within India.

The NIA investigation has revealed that Rinda allegedly hatched a conspiracy to kill a retired Punjab Police officer with assistance from Passia, who later recruited Rohan and Vishal. “Passia provided all the logistics, including a fund of `5.7 lakh, arms, ammunition and explosives to them through his associates, sitting in different countries,” the official said.

“After receiving pistol and grenade from Passia’s associates on September 10 last year from Bhalowali village in Fatehgarh, Rohan was given training to handle the pistol and grenade by Passia on Instagram video call. Passia also instructed the accused to watch the video of handling the grenade on YouTube to ensure the task is properly executed,” the official said.

Probe has also revealed that hours before the incident in the morning, the attackers had checked the grenade and found it was slightly cracked. “They immediately made a video call to Passia, showing him the grenade, which was cracked and told him that carrying it would be dangerous. Passia asserted that everything had been planned and offered them `10 lakh for carrying out the grenade attack. They were asked to watch videos on YouTube again to understand how to detonate the grenade and they later purchased a white tape from Batala bus stand in Punjab and wrapped it around the grenade to secure it,” the official said.