Grenade Attack at Former Punjab Minister Manoranjan Kalia’s Residence Sparks Panic, Two Arrested
A grenade was hurled at the residence of former Punjab minister and senior BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia in the Central Town area around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, triggering widespread alarm and political reactions throughout the day.
The blast, which occurred at the outer section of the property, caused significant damage—shattering windowpanes, creating craters in the floor, damaging the partition gate of the verandah, and partially destroying Kalia’s Innova and a motorcycle parked near the entrance.
CCTV footage revealed that the grenade was thrown by a man riding in a moving e-rickshaw. The driver, seen earlier conducting a recce near Shastri Chowk, later returned with a passenger who lobbed the grenade toward the house. The police arrested two suspects by the afternoon—identified as 22-year-old Harry from Garha and his relative Satish Kumar Kaka from Bhargo Camp—using footage tracked through citywide CCTV monitoring.
Kalia, along with his sister and nephew, was inside the house at the time. “Initially, I thought it was a transformer blast. Only later did I realize my home had been targeted,” he said. According to Kalia, no one at the nearby Division No. 3 police station—just 400 meters away—responded to the initial alert. His gunman eventually had to go in person to report the incident. Attempts to contact senior police officials were also unsuccessful initially.
Senior police officers, including Deputy Commissioner Manpreet Singh and Additional Deputy Commissioner Sukhwinder Singh, reached the scene soon after. Commissioner of Police Dhanpreet Kaur arrived around 4:45 a.m.
As news of the attack spread, political leaders across party lines, including former MLA Sheetal Angural, visited Kalia’s home to check on his safety and show support.
Police have also reportedly detained two handlers connected to the incident and are continuing their investigation.
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