Jalandhar (Punjab), Apr 8 (UNI) A grenade attack was carried out at the residence of senior BJP leader and former state Minister Manoranjan Kalia here in Punjab last night, in a brazen act for which the police pinned responsibility on a notorious criminal gang, Pakistan-based terrorists and Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.
Nobody was injured in the attack carried out at around 1 AM when two assailants lobbed a grenade which exploded at the gate of the premises. However, a side door of the premises collapsed due to the impact of the blast.
Hours after the incident, the Punjab Police said they have arrested two suspects and claimed that the attack was carried out by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang at the behest of Pakistan-based terrorists Zeeshan Akhtar and Shazad Bhatt in connivance with ISI to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state.
In the incident caught on CCTV, two men are seen approaching the house on an E-rickshaw. One of the occupants alighted from the E-rickshaw and hurled the grenade, causing damage to the entrance door, window panes and a car parked inside the house. They then fled in the same vehicle.
Kalia told reporters that as soon as he heard the blast, he woke up from sleep. Initially, he thought the blast had taken place in his generator, said the former minister, adding it took him a little while to realise what had happened.
The BJP leader claimed that his gunman Nishan Singh immediately called up the police station but nobody answered the call there. He then went personally to the police station, which is located just a few hundred meters away from the house.
Soon after this, police teams started operations to hunt down the attackers.

This afternoon, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla told the media in Chandigarh that the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police had rounded up the two suspects and also seized the e-rickshaw used in the attack less than 12 hours after the incident.
The police have also picked up some youths involved in criminal activities to further their investigation into the attack, which sent shockwaves across the state.

The BJP condemned the attack and targeted the AAP government, saying the incident speaks about the bad law and order situation in the state.
Kalia said the law and order situation in the state under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was deteriorating every passing day and none was safe. UNI GS XC SSP AKK