The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a supplementary chargesheet against two people in the Ludhiana Court complex bomb blast case, in which one person was killed and six others were injured on December 23, 2021, news agency ANI reported on Tuesday.
NIA said that one of the accused named in the chargesheet, Lakhbir Singh alias Rode of Punjab's Moga district, is reportedly in Pakistan, where he smuggled IEDs into India to set off explosions across the state. He is the leader of two banned organisations: the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISFY).
According to the NIA, the IED that exploded in the court complex was smuggled into Punjab from across the border by Rode. He smuggled these IEDs with the assistance of Pakistan-based drug smugglers and their Indian associates, including Harpreet Singh alias Happy Malaysia, the agency said.
According to the agency, the other accused in the chargesheet, Harpreet Singh alias Happy Malaysia of Amritsar district, was arrested in December 2022 at IGI Airport in Delhi upon his arrival from Malaysia.
In its chargesheet filed in the same case earlier in January, the NIA named five people, including Gagandeep Singh, Surmukh Singh, Dilbag Singh, and Rajanpreet Singh from Punjab in India, and Zulfikar aka Phalwan from Narowal's Baddomalhi in Pakistan, which is not far from the Indian border in Punjab.
According to the NIA, Rode enlisted the help of Pakistan-based elements as well as Indian operatives to carry out his plans for triggering the blasts in various locations throughout Punjab. Zulfikar, an alleged cross-border smuggler of arms, explosives, and drugs; Harpreet Singh, who operated from Malaysia; and Surmukh, Dilbag, and Rajanpreet Singh were also involved in the plot. Gagandeep was handed the IED.