The investigation into the IED blast outside BSF Headquarters in Jalandhar has now revealed an eerie inside story of how the attack was allegedly planned, executed and recorded live with the arrest of two accused police are slowly piecing together what officials believe was a carefully coordinated operation linked to Pakistan-based handlers and social media contacts.
Late Thursday evening Punjab Police arrested 28-year-old Munir Khan who is the man accused of planting IED outside BSF Headquarters on the night of May 5 along with Anil Sharma who allegedly recorded the blast live on video and the two were arrested while travelling towards Amritsar in a bus after police and intelligence teams tracked them using technical surveillance and intelligence inputs.
According to investigators Munir Khan was main operative who physically carried out the blast and during interrogation he allegedly admitted that he had been in touch with Pakistan-based underworld figure Shahzad Bhatti through Instagram for several months and police sources say Khan who is also a Class 10 dropout was promised Rs 1 lakh for carrying out the attack.
Investigators claim Bhatti not only planned the explosion but also arranged bomb and guided Khan step-by-step on how to execute the operation and officials also say Khan was fully aware of target location before blast and had already conducted a recce of the area.
Police sources revealed that on evening of May 5 Khan reached Jalandhar in a car carrying the bomb however instead of driving directly to blast spot he reportedly got down near PAP Chowk and moved towards BSF Headquarters on foot to avoid suspicion.
During questioning Khan allegedly told investigators that he had learned how to operate timer mechanism through social media tutorials and was reportedly given detailed instructions about how to activate IED and how much time he would have to escape after planting it and police sources say Khan set timer for eight minutes before moving towards target area and reportedly walked on wrong side of the road to avoid attracting attention.
During interrogation he allegedly admitted that he was terrified while carrying the bomb and feared it could explode in his hands because it was the first time he had attempted such an act and investigators say Khan told police that his hands were trembling while he walked towards spot and in panic and haste he allegedly planted explosive device near BSF Headquarters and immediately ran away from the area and later crossed the road, returned to his car and drove straight to Zirakpur.
According to police sources Khan also revealed that Bhatti had emotionally manipulated and motivated him before the attack and allegedly told Khan that carrying out blast was a “special responsibility” and promised him more money in future if operation was successful.
The second accused Anil Sharma has also become a key figure in the investigation, as per reports Sharma is originally from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and had reportedly been living in Amritsar for the past five years and investigators say Sharma too was in contact with Bhatti through social media and during questioning he allegedly disclosed that Bhatti had informed him that a major explosion was going to take place near a military area in Jalandhar and Bhatti reportedly asked him to provide a live video feed of blast as it happened and for this task Sharma allegedly received Rs 50,000.
According to interrogation details Sharma claimed that he had earlier come under the radar of a central agency because of his contact with Bhatti and was reportedly questioned in April and later released after allegedly agreeing to share any future information related to Bhatti’s activities and Sharma allegedly told investigators that on May 5 Bhatti informed him that blast would happen that evening near military zone in Jalandhar and after receiving information Sharma travelled to Jalandhar and positioned himself near a liquor shop close to BSF Chowk.
Police sources claim he remained there and showed Bhatti live visuals of the explosion through video call or live footage and soon after blast he allegedly boarded a bus and fled from the area and one of the biggest breakthroughs in this case came through CCTV footage analysis where Munir Khan was initially seen in CCTV cameras planting bomb but police could not immediately understand how he escaped.
Investigators then began scanning footage from more than 150 CCTV cameras covering the route between bus stand area and PAP Chowk and during investigation more than 50 vehicles including cars and buses came under scrutiny after which police finally identified one suspicious car that had stopped near PAP Chowk shortly before the blast and investigators noticed that the vehicle did not move ahead and remained in the area before leaving nearly five minutes after explosion.
By tracking the movement of the car through different CCTV cameras police eventually traced its route to Zirakpur and further technical investigation and surveillance helped officials identify Munir Khan and when police teams reached his residence he was missing however, officials continued tracking both accused before finally arresting them while they were travelling towards Amritsar meanwhile, the larger investigation into conspiracy is still ongoing and intelligence teams and Punjab Police have reportedly questioned more than 50 individuals who were allegedly connected with Shahzad Bhatti through Instagram and other social media platforms.
Sources say many of those questioned were bouncers and youths who had allegedly interacted with Bhatti online and their mobile phones are now being examined as investigators try to determine whether there was a wider network involved in the conspiracy and for now most of them have been released after questioning but police have instructed them not to leave city without informing authorities.
The blast outside BSF Headquarters had initially been mistaken for a scooter fire caused by a technical fault however after forensic teams examined site and found traces of explosive material case was officially treated as an IED explosion and Punjab Police are now continuing raids, technical analysis and interrogations as investigators try to uncover full network behind the attack and determine whether more people were involved in planning or supporting the operation.