CCTV shows man on rickshaw fleeing after hurling grenade at BJP’s Manoranjan Kalia’s Jalandhar home

A CCTV footage of the explosion outside the residence of BJP leader, Manoranjan Kalia in Punjab’s Jalandhar district, shows an assailant coming on an e-rickshaw and allegedly throwing a grenade before fleeing.

Kalia is a former Cabinet minister and former president of Punjab BJP.

He is also a member of the BJP’s national executive.

A “loud sound" was heard at around 1 am at the residence of Kalia near Shastri Market in Jalandhar, which  caused panic in the area.

No one was hurt in the incident, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Manpreet Singh, adding, “The forensic team is investigating the matter."

“The grenade attack was so severe that the partition in the house was severely damaged. The window glass of the kitchen was damaged. A bathroom door was damaged," said Kalia.

There was some damage to the floor of the entrance and his SUV as well. Kalia said he was sleeping when he heard the sound of the explosion. He said he initially thought there was a blast in the electric transformer because of overloading.

His driver then told him it was a blast. Thereafter, he called the police but nobody picked up the phone, he said. Then he sent his gunman to the police station, Kalia added. Jalandhar Police Commissioner Dhanpreet Kaur said: “We are examining the CCTV trail."

There have been many incidents of explosions, targeting police posts in Amritsar and Gurdaspur in the past four to five months. Last month, a blast occurred outside a temple in Amritsar. .

Punjab