New Delhi: Punjab Director-General of Police Siddharth Chattopadhyaya on Saturday revealed that the former state police head constable who was killed in the Ludhiana district court blast had links with Khalistani elements and terror outfits.
Some Pakistan-based entities could be behind the incident, he said, as reported by news agency PTI.
Addressing the media, the Punjab DGP said that Gagandeep Singh, who was dismissed from service in 2019, had gone to the washroom to assemble the bomb and plant it somewhere. He was alone in the washroom when the bomb went off.
It was further informed that Gagandeep Singh was posted as a ‘munshi’ at a police station in Khanna, his native city, and was sacked in connection with a drugs-related case.
Gagandeep was arrested by the anti-drug special task force for carrying 385 grams of heroin and was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2019.
He spent two years in jail and was currently out on bail. The next hearing in the NDPS case was scheduled to take place on December 24, a day after the blast, DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya stated.
As per the police, Gagandeep probably came in contact with some bad elements during his time in jail.
DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya cited the initial probe as he said that the deceased had links with Khalistani elements, both within Punjab and abroad, terror outfits, mafia groups as well as narcotic smugglers.
He added that further details will be disclosed later.
Responding to a question about Pakistan’s involvement in the blast, the Punjab DGP commented the police have “full suspicion” but he could not say so conclusively.
The leads gathered so far indicate that someone sitting and operating in Pakistan could be behind it, he added, as reported by PTI.
On whether Pakistan-based pro-Khalistani organisations could have played a role in the blast, the Punjab police chief said that there were indications of links to Khalistani elements and narco-terrorism.
Gagandeep Singh was facing a narcotics case and his link with the mafia was also established, he mentioned.
According to the Punjab DGP, the explosive used in the blast was the kind that only terrorists have and it might have come from across the border.
He said that the Ludhiana court blast was the biggest example of the “dangerous cocktail” of terrorism, organised crime, mafia and narcotics.
When asked whether RDX was used in the bomb, DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya stated the material was sent for examination and the type of explosive used will be known after the report comes.
“I cannot say conclusively what the (explosive) material was,” he said, adding that it was unlikely to be RDX.
In another response, the Punjab police chief mentioned that Gagandeep Singh was “technically sound” when he was serving in the police.
“He was very good with computers and technical material,” he said.
Notably, the Punjab Police has ruled out the human bomb angle. “It appears that he went there (washroom) to connect some wires and... to place it (the bomb) somewhere. It was not the concept of a human bomb,” DGP Siddharth stated.
“The posture in which he was sitting (showed that) he did not go to the washroom to use it. He was using the washroom to assemble it (the bomb). He was alone there,” the officer informed.
He praised the police and other investigation agencies for identifying the man within 24 hours of the incident.
Gagandeep Singh’s mobile SIM is believed to have helped identify him, PTI reported police sources as saying.
Besides one death, six others were injured in the blast that occurred in the Ludhiana district court complex on Thursday. The Punjab government had declared a high alert in the state after the incident.
(With Agency Inputs)