Cross-Border Handler Behind Sangrur BJP Office Attack: Police

In a major breakthrough, Punjab Police on Tuesday claimed to have cracked the petrol bomb attack on the BJP's Sangrur district office within 24 hours, alleging that a cross-border handler recruited two local men through social media and promised them money to target the party office. The attack is the second such strike on a BJP office in the region, following the grenade attack on the BJP headquarters in Chandigarh in September 2024.Speaking to NDTV, Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravjot Grewal said the accused were motivated purely by money and were in direct contact with a foreign-based handler."A cash amount of 2200 was promised to them, but the payment was never made and the accused were arrested. A cross-border handler was in touch with these accused. Just for cash, the two accused executed this crime. We are pursuing the investigation to establish both the forward and backward linkages," SSP Grewal told NDTV.Sangrur, Punjab: Police have solved the petrol bomb attack case at the BJP office in Sangrur within 24 hours. Two accused have been arrested, and the motorcycle and mobile phone used in the incident have been recovered pic.twitter.com/MSZCJrscKH - IANS (@ians_india) July 28, 2026The two accused have been identified as Happy Singh alias Happy, a resident of Bhambri village in Longowal, and Jaspreet Singh alias Jassi, a resident of Lehragaga.Police have recovered the motorcycle allegedly used in the attack and the mobile phones of both accused.According to investigators, the incident took place around 2.35 am on July 26, when the duo allegedly walked to the BJP office and hurled a petrol bomb, fitted with a fuse, at the building before fleeing.Based on a complaint by BJP district president Maninder Singh, police registered a case under Section 326(g) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and provisions of the Explosive Substances Act at Sangrur City-1 police station.The SSP said a special investigation team led by SP (Investigation) Davinder Attri, along with DSPs and cyber intelligence teams, cracked the case using technical and intelligence inputs.The probe revealed that the accused had allegedly been contacted through social media by a person identifying himself as "Rana Bhai", who promised them money to execute the attack and send a video of the incident.Police said the accused were lured with the promise of cash, but the payment never materialised before they were arrested. Investigators are now examining the handler's social media accounts and financial trail while probing whether the attack is linked to a wider cross-border conspiracy.Further investigation is underway.