Ludhiana Court Blast | Suspected Bomber Identified As Sacked Constable: Sources

Earlier today, police had informed that the person who died in the Ludhiana court blast is believed to have brought explosives to the District Court Complex. 

File Photo: Gagandeep Singh (ABP News) | Blast Site (PTI)

New Delhi: The man killed in the blast at the Ludhiana district court complex, suspected by police of being the “handler”, has been identified as a sacked constable named Gagandeep Singh, sources said on Friday. 

According to the inputs, Gagandeep was a resident of Teg Bahadur Nagar in Khanna. He was sacked as a police constable and in jail over a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2019, sources said. 

On August 11, 2019, a case was registered against Gagandeep in the STF police station, the sources revealed. He is said to have been released from jail on bail recently.

As per the sources, police investigating the court blast also reached Gagandeep’s house for the probe.

The blast inside Ludhiana court premises occurred at 12.22 pm on Thursday in a washroom on the second floor of the court building, which is right next to the district administrative complex and has a daily footfall of over 25,000 people.

The blast occurred on a day when advocates were on strike and the footfall was relatively low. 

The explosion ripped apart a section of the building and was heard hundreds of metres away. The walls of the washroom were damaged and glass window panes of the lawyers’ chambers as well as of vehicles parked near the building were shattered, news agency ANI reported.

Earlier today, police had informed that the person who died in the Ludhiana court blast is believed to have brought explosives to the District Court Complex. 

“The blast (in Ludhiana court) occurred at 12:22 pm on December 23... Preliminary investigation suggests that the person who died in the blast was the handler/criminal. Forensic experts, bomb experts looking into the matter,” Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, Ludhiana Commissioner of Police, had told ANI. 

As per the Punjab government, the blast in the court had left six others injured. 

An FIR was registered on Thursday in the case under the relevant section of the Indian Penal Code, Explosive Substance Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, reported ANI.

(With Agency Inputs)