“Ameen was in contact with fugitive Zeeshan Akhtar, also…behind the murder of Maharashtra leader Baba Siddique. Akhtar is suspected to be operating either from Azerbaijan or Europe,” a source in the Delhi Police said.

A grenade blast at Kalia’s home on April 7 had shattered glass panes and damaged vehicles. Kalia was home during the blast, but was not harmed. Punjab Police later arrested two persons. Punjab Special DGP (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla had then said Pakistan’s spy agency ISI and Zeeshan Akhtar — a known associate of Lawrence Bishnoi, and Pakistani gangster Shehzad Bhatti — had carried out the blast to create communal tension.

DGP Yadav said they launched an operation in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to nab the accused. Following inputs, a Delhi Police Special Cell team, led by Inspectors Ravi Tushir and Puran Pant — under DCP Amit Kaushik and ACP Rahul Singh — with Punjab Police arrested Ameen from Jasola.

A Delhi Police officer said Ameen was instructed to destroy his cellphone and shave his head after the attack at Kalia’s house. “He was also told to go underground for a few days… Ameen was contacted via Instagram to throw grenade outside Kalia’s residence for `50,000…” Ameen was instructed to collect the grenade from a locality in Amritsar. “He hired an e-rickshaw for `1,500, threw the grenade outside Kalia’s residence and fled.” Another source in the police said Ameen watched YouTube videos to learn how to throw grenades.

In Jalandhar, Yadav said the ongoing probe has revealed a financial link with one Abhijot, who was arrested by Haryana Police Friday after an exchange of fire in Kurukshetra. Abhijot too will be brought to Punjab on a production warrant.

Asked why was Kalia the target of the attack, Yadav said, “It is too early to say. We do not rule out any possibility.”

The Punjab Police had on April 8 claimed to have solved the case within 12 hours with the arrest of two persons. They had also recovered the e-rickshaw.