Overview

• The victim, later identified as 23-year-old auto-rickshaw driver Nitin Kumar, died on May 27 when the explosive he was attempting to retrieve detonated near Naushera village on the Majitha Road Bypass.
• Punjab Police recovered phone records and other clues linking him to the banned Babbar Khalsa International and suggesting involvement of Pakistan’s ISI, with forensic teams probing whether it was an IED or grenade.
• Investigators believe the consignment was smuggled across the India-Pakistan border using established trafficking routes for arms, drugs and explosives.
• The blast severed both of Kumar’s arms and was heard over a kilometre away, prompting area cordons and an intensified security operation by bomb disposal and forensic squads.
• Opposition leaders have accused the AAP government of a collapse in law and order following the incident and are calling for a federal investigation into the terror nexus.