Former Punjab minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manoranjan Kalia’s house was attacked by a grenade in the early morning hours of Tuesday sending alarm bells concering Law and order in the state. The attack took place at about 1am in Jalandhar when unidentified attackers struck his residence, damaging a glass partition, a car, and a motorcycle parked at the gate. Kalia and his family members were inside at the time, but no one was injured.
This is the first grenade attack on a politician’s residence in Punjab, after a series of such attacks on police stations. In March, a grenade was hurled at YouTuber Rozer Sandhu’s home in Jalandhar’s Raipur Rasoolpur village. As per reports, more than 14 grenade attacks have happened over police stations in the state.
CCTV footage of the incident revealed an attacker emerging from an e-rickshaw and hurling the grenade before making a getaway. The explosion was strong enough to break glass and scare residents nearby.
Police commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur Randhawa assured that a First Information Report is being filed and an investigation is in progress. “We got information about the explosion around 1am. The senior officials have reached the location and cordoned off the area. CCTV footage is being scanned and forensic teams are doing a detailed analysis,” she confirmed. She further stated that security
Kalia termed the incident as “frightening reminder” of Punjab’s increased insecurity. “I first assumed the blast resulted from my generator or a transformer. My gunman attempted to ring the police station, which is hardly 100 metres away, but nobody took the call. He had to run there himself,” he asserted.
Earlier Aam Aadmi Party MLA Sheetal Angural, who came to the scene around 2:30am, stated that the attack was proof that even high-ranking politicians were not safe in the existing environment.
The grenade attack has evoked harsh condemnation from opposition leaders. Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa called the incident a bleak reminder of the spurt of violent incidents in chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s rule. Ever since Mann came to power, Punjab has been plagued by recurring blasts, with the RPG firing at the intelligence headquarters in Mohali in May 2022 and grenade attacks on police facilities in 2024. It’s a sign of a complete failure of law and order,” he said, calling for Mann’s resignation unless he can maintain public safety.”.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia also criticized the government and asked how an attack was possible just metres away from a police station. “After attacking police infrastructure, those attacking political leaders are now. These are attempts at disturbing communal peace. Mann has failed as chief minister and home minister,” he tweeted on social media.
The police have not confirmed the motive of the attack nor the identity of the attackers.