4 people, including primary accused, have been apprehended in relation to the petrol bomb attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) office located in Ranchi of Jharkhand. According to other reports, 3 accused have been nabbed, and they are identified as Saif Ansari also known as Rohit, Aman Ansari alias Golu and Sayam Sujan. Saif was wounded during a police encounter as he tried to flee.
“One of the accused escaped from police custody during interrogation at Ranchi’s Kotwali police station. The accused was arrested later from Ranchi’s Chanho area after a brief gunfight with security forces. He received bullet injuries in one of his legs, and he was admitted to a hospital in the city,” informed Ranchi City DSP K V Raman.
He added, “While being interrogated at the Kotwali police station, he made an excuse to go to the washroom and then ran away after breaking a window. We checked the CCTV footage and found that he had boarded a bus. We then alerted several police stations and circulated his photograph. After a chase, the police caught him near a toll plaza.”
The accused stole a police gun and fired two or three rounds while the teams were coming back with him. The top cop stated, “In response, the police also fired at him, resulting in a gunshot wound to one of his legs. The brief encounter happened in Chano area.”
The probe has revealed direct connections to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). According to sources from the investigating agency, the ISI had used social media to task the accused with executing this attack. Raman mentioned, “The accused are suspected to have terror links with ISI or Tehreek-e-Taliban Hind (TTH). The details will be shared after the investigation is over.”
According to police, one of the perpetrators had previously worked in Dubai and was in touch with anti-India elements like Shahbaz Alam, also known as Bhatti, and Rana Hussain, also known as Rana Ji. There are suspicions that the ISI-supported “Shahzad Bhatti module” could be responsible for it. Due to the gravity of the situation, stringent measures have been implemented against those arrested.
They have been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Explosive Substances Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The accused will not be able to secure bail under these charges. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to carry out a comprehensive investigation, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) might soon participate in the inquiry.
The accused launched petrol bombs at the office situated in the Nivaranpur area of Ranchi around midnight on 16th June. Afterwards, they intended to escape to Delhi by train. In response, the Ranchi Police promptly issued an alert, and the perpetrators were captured at the Gaya railway station in Bihar as they were trying to flee. One of them is from Ranchi and two are from Lohardaga in Jharkhand.
The assailants had methodically surveyed the area prior to carrying out their plan. CCTV footage captured outside the premises showed two young individuals approaching on foot and pausing near the Sangh office with glass bottles filled with petrol distinctly visible in their hands.
One individual ignited a bottle with a lighter and threw it towards the office and his accomplice filmed the entire event on a mobile device after which the duo quickly left the scene. An inquiry conducted by the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) uncovered that the bottles were filled with a significant amount of petrol. The true aim of the attackers was to burn the entire building. Approximately 20 people were inside the property during the incident.
Fortunately, the petrol bombs did not strike critical spots and no injuries were reported. Initial findings also suggested that the culprits were not yet fully proficient in making petrol bombs. The authorities have also discovered raw materials used for making bombs from the scene. Investigating agencies have categorised it as a terrorist conspiracy in light of the discovery of a Pakistani link to the occurrence.
