Ludhiana Court Bomber Had Links With Pak-Based Pro-Khalistan Elements: Punjab Police

The top cop said that the police were able to identify the deceased from a tattoo on his right arm after the post-mortem, adding DNA samples of the body were also collected.

Chandigarh: Claiming to have cracked the Ludhiana court bomb blast case in less than 24 hours, the Punjab Police on Saturday said the accused-cum-victim, Gagandeep Singh, reportedly had links with Pakistan-based pro-Khalistan elements.

“I am proud of Punjab Police, which have successfully cracked the Ludhiana blast case in less than 24 hours,” Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Siddharth Chattopadhyaya said.

The top cop said that the police were able to identify the deceased from a tattoo on his right arm after the post-mortem, adding DNA samples of the body were also collected.

Chattopadhyaya said the accused was earlier arrested with heroin when he was working in Khanna town and added that an NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) case was registered against him.

He added the case is still under trial at the prosecution evidence stage.

The DGP said that Singh got out on bail earlier in September after spending two years in a Ludhiana jail in connection with the case and was supposed to appear in the court again on December 24.

Asserting the police are investigating the case from all angles, Chattopadhyaya said: “Preliminary investigations suggest that the accused could have developed links with pro-Khalistan elements in the jail, who used him to target the court premises with the intention of disturbing peace in the state.”

The DGP said the preliminary investigations also suggest that the accused wanted to create fear and panic in the court premises

The top cop further said the materials used for the explosion are yet to be ascertained, and added the samples have been sent to the forensic lab.

“A team of the National Security Guard (NSG) and that of the state forensic experts were called for a post-blast investigation,” he said, IANS reported.

The DGP further said the forensic team during the course of systematic clearing of debris at the blast site collected some vital clues like damaged a mobile set and burnt clothes on the body of the victim besides other material evidence.

Earlier on Thursday, one person was killed and six others injured after a high intensity explosion occurred in a public toilet at the district court complex in Ludhiana.

The accused, according to police, died while planting the bomb.

The accused – a former police constable – was dismissed from service earlier in August 2019 after heroin was recovered from his possession.