CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police suspects that the person who died at the explosion in Ludhiana district court on Thursday had links with Pakistan-based terror outfits, Khalistani elements, mafia and gangsters as well as drug smugglers. The deceased has been identified as Gagandeep Singh, a Punjab Police head constable who was dismissed from service for having links with narcotics peddlers.
Police also thinks Pakistan-based outfits also had a hand in the blast. “We found several leads from the spot. We found tattered clothes and a sim card, a mobile and a tattoo on the arm of the deceased. We also found that Gagandeep was to attend a trial in the court on December 24 and another trial on February 3,” said Punjab Police Director General Siddharth Chattopadhyaya.
Asked if RDX was used in the blast, Chattopadhyaya said the material has been sent for forensic examination. As far as initial reports are concerned, experts do not think so but the final report is awaited. “It seems Gagandeep was alone, but one cannot say conclusively. In CCTV footage, some other people have also been noticed,” said the police official.
It has been learnt preliminary investigations suggest Gagandeep wanted to create panic at the court premises. Not ruling out the involvement of Pakistan-based pro-Khalistan groups, Chattopadhyaya said police are looking at all possible angles. “Preliminary investigations suggest Gagandeep could have developed links with pro-Khalistan elements when he was in jail. They might have used him to target the court premises with the intention of disturbing peace of the state.”
The DG said he was not a suicide bomber as thought initially. “Gagandeep was good with computers when he was in police. He was not a human bomb. He had gone to the toilet to fix the wire because he had to place the bomb somewhere else. He was in touch with elements of nacro terror in Punjab and jails abroad.’’
Gagandeep was caught with 385 grams of heroin August 2019, for which he was sentenced to prison. Of late, he was out on bail. According to his wife Jaspreet Kaur, Gagandeep left home at 9.30 am on Thursday and his mobile was switched off since. She recognised the tattoo on the arm of the dead body and also the clothes worn by him.
Sources said Gagandeep’s mobile phone exploded at the time of the blast. He had a dongle through which he was accessing internet. The National Investigative Agency and Punjab Police suspect he was getting information from someone online about assembling and activating the bomb.
Not a suicide bomber
Punjab Police officials believe Gagandeep was not a human bomb, as was thought initially. They think he had gone to the toilet to fix wires when the bomb went off accidentally and killed him at the spot in the Ludhiana district court premises on Thursday