The DGP of Punjab Siddharth Chattopadhyaya has said that December 23 Ludhiana court blast was the handiwork of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI and the deceased accused was in touch with the Khalistani groups and the drug mafia.
Chattopadhyaya who addressed his first press conference on December 25 after assuming charge as the head of the Punjab Police claimed that accused Gagandeep Singh was taking directions from handlers in Pakistan.
“It was an external conspiracy aimed to scare the judiciary,” he said. DGP informed that two persons facing trial in drug cases have been taken for interrogation whereas a woman constable has been detained for questioning.
The DGP of Punjab clearly named Pakistan as the mastermind behind Ludhiana Bomb Blast
— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) December 25, 2021
Are you still on denial mode @sherryontopp? Would you continue favouring your Bhai Jaan over Punjab’s peace? pic.twitter.com/KdTq8G9afC
Punjab DGP said that the Ludhiana court blast case was a dangerous cocktail of terrorism, organized crime, mafia, and narcotics.
The DGP naming Pakistan and Khalastani elements behind the blast must have left Punjab Congress and state government embarrassed as the Congress and Charanjit Singh Channi led government have always been in denial mode to realize Pakistan fomenting fresh troubles in this bordering state.
Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Mohalla Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar of Lalheri road in Khanna was dismissed Punjab Police head constable. He died while fixing wires of the bomb inside a toilet of Ludhiana Session Court when it exploded.
This former munshi (clerk constable) at the Khanna police, was arrested by the Special Task Force of Ludhiana police on August 11, 2019 while possessing 385 gm of heroin.
Police had arrested his two accomplices — Amandeep Singh alias Mauli and Vikas Kumar alias Lara of Ludhiana city. A total of 785 gm heroin was recovered from the trio. He was part of a drug cartel run by a Nigerian national Harrison Chenew alias William alias Ajuka Ikechukwu.
Gagandeep was recently released on bail and DGP said that the accused must have developed contacts with criminals and terrorists inside the jail and picked-up terrorism. Gagandeep was set to appear before the court on December 24 for the hearing of his case.
Chattopadhyaya said that the preliminary investigations suggested that pro-Khalistani elements used Gagandeep to target the court premises to inflict damage of the life and property besides creating unrest.
As the source of the explosive has yet not been ascertained, Punjab Police is carrying an audit of the malkhaana of the police station to ensure whether he stole away the confiscated explosives kept in malkhaanas.
Asked if the explosive was RDX, the DGP said that nothing can be said conclusively and one will have to wait for forensic report. However, he said that it was unlikely to be RDX.
Chattopadhyaya also ruled out human bomb angle. He said that the accused went to the toilet to connect wires.
Intelligence agencies hint role of Pakistan based Khalistani radical
Quoting intelligence inputs, media reports have claimed that a Pakistan-based Khalistani radical, Harvinder Singh Sandhu along with a pro-Khalistan terrorist in Germany had played a crucial role in the Ludhiana court blast case.
Notified as ‘Category A’ criminal in the police record he is living in Pakistan under the protection of ISI and he is has been tasked to carry out terror attacks in Punjab ahead of the assembly elections next year.
