The Rajasthan railway blast probe has led to the arrest of two people in Punjab after investigators alleged that a Pakistan-based handler recruited a woman through a romantic relationship to help carry out the November 3 explosion near a railway track in Sri Ganganagar district.
Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad and Sri Ganganagar police arrested 21-year-old Mahakdeep Kaur and 23-year-old Davinder Singh from Gurdaspur on November 15, with assistance from Punjab Counter Intelligence. Police said they recovered two foreign-made pistols, 46 live cartridges and Rs 30,000 in cash from the accused.
ADGP ATS Dinesh MN, along with senior officials of the AGTF, ANTF, Bikaner Range Inspector General Om Prakash and Sri Ganganagar Superintendent of Police Harishankar, disclosed the details at a press conference on Sunday. According to the police, the operation was allegedly directed by a Pakistan-based ISI handler identified as Shah, whose stated objective was to spread panic in Sri Ganganagar and across Rajasthan.
Investigators alleged that the accused were paid Rs 2.23 lakh for the operation. Of this amount, Rs 1 lakh was allegedly paid in cash, while the remaining sum was transferred to bank accounts, police said. Investigators are examining whether a train was intended to be the target of the blast.
According to the account presented by the ATS, Kaur had married around two years ago, but the marriage ended in December 2024. Her former husband, Karanveer Singh, was jailed in February 2025 in a case registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Police said Singh subsequently re-established contact with Kaur and asked her to communicate with a Pakistan-based person called Lovely, who would provide money for delivery to him in jail.
Lovely allegedly introduced Kaur to Shah. Investigators said conversations between Kaur and Shah gradually developed into a romantic relationship, which the handler then allegedly used to recruit her and assign targets. The police account does not establish whether all alleged links in the chain have been independently confirmed, and further questioning is expected to focus on the suspected network and its overseas contacts.
Police said Kaur and Singh first visited the Ramsinghpur area on October 6, but their attempt failed because explosives were not available. They allegedly returned on October 12 or 13 with explosives and a timer, but a technical malfunction prevented the blast. Following further instructions from Pakistan, investigators allege that the explosion was finally triggered near 50 GB village on November 3.
The breakthrough followed the analysis of nearly five lakh call records and questioning of more than 400 people, according to the ATS. Investigators also examined suspected Pakistan-linked smugglers and their local contacts before tracing the accused through technical surveillance and human intelligence.
Dinesh MN said central-agency inputs received three days before the arrests led ATS teams to Punjab. With support from Punjab Counter Intelligence, the suspects were traced to Gurdaspur and arrested. Both accused are to be produced before a court and taken on remand for further interrogation, with investigators seeking to identify other members of the alleged network and establish links with Pakistan-based handlers.
