JAISALMER: The conspiracy behind the November 3 blast on a railway track near 50 GB village in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar district was allegedly masterminded by a Pakistan-based ISI handler identified as Shah, who used a romantic relationship to recruit a young woman to carry out the attack.The accused were allegedly paid Rs 2.23 lakh for executing the operation, including Rs 1 lakh in cash, while the remaining amount was transferred to their bank accounts.The primary objective behind the railway track blast, allegedly orchestrated by the ISI, was to spread terror across Rajasthan, particularly in Sri Ganganagar.ADGP ATS Dinesh MN, along with senior officials of AGTF, ANTF, Bikaner Range IG Om Prakash and Sri Ganganagar SP Harishankar, disclosed details of the investigation at a press conference on Sunday.The Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Sri Ganganagar police, with assistance from Punjab Counter Intelligence, arrested two accused, including 21-year-old Mahakdeep Kaur and Davinder Singh (23), from Gurdaspur in Punjab.Police recovered two foreign-made pistols, 46 live cartridges and Rs 30,000 in cash from the arrested accused.Dinesh MN said the blast was carried out at the direction of a foreign-based handler whose objective was to spread panic in Sri Ganganagar and across Rajasthan. The handler allegedly provided the target location, funding and instructions for executing the attack.Investigations revealed that Mahakdeep Kaur had married around two years ago, but her marriage ended in December 2024. In February 2025, her husband, Karanveer Singh, was jailed in an NDPS case. Subsequently, he re-established contact with her and allegedly asked her to communicate with a Pakistan-based person named Lovely, who would provide money to be delivered to him in jail.Lovely later introduced her to another person identified as Shah. Gradually, conversations between Mahakdeep and Shah developed into a romantic relationship, and she became emotionally attached to him. The Pakistani handler allegedly exploited this relationship to recruit her for the railway blast and assign her targets.According to the ADGP, Mahakdeep and Davinder visited the Ramsinghpur area on October 6, but their first attempt failed because explosives were not available. They returned on October 12 or 13 with explosives and a timer, but a technical malfunction prevented the blast. Following further instructions from Pakistan, they allegedly succeeded in triggering the explosion near 50 GB on November 3. Investigators are also examining whether a train was the intended target.The breakthrough came after an extensive investigation involving the analysis of nearly five lakh call records and the questioning of more than 400 people. Police also examined suspected Pakistan-linked smugglers and their local contacts before tracing the accused through technical surveillance and human intelligence.Dinesh MN said inputs from central agencies received three days ago led ATS teams to Punjab. With assistance from Punjab Counter Intelligence, the suspects’ locations were traced to Gurdaspur, where they were arrested on November 15.Both accused will be produced before a court and taken on remand for further interrogation to identify other members of the network and establish links with Pakistan-based handlers.