Former cop who was killed in the Ludhiana district court blast had links with Khalistani elements and terror outfits, said Punjab DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya on Saturday adding that “some Pakistan-based entities could be behind the incident.” The DGP further noted that the explosive used in the blast was the kind that only terrorists have.
“During his time in jail, Singh probably came in contact with some bad elements” Chattopadhyaya said adding, “Singh had links with Khalistani elements, both within Punjab and abroad, terror outfits, mafia groups as well as narcotic smugglers.”
The leads gathered so far indicate that someone sitting and operating in Pakistan could be behind it, he added.
Asked if Pakistan-based pro-Khalistani organisations could have had a role in the blast, Chattopadhyaya said there were indications of links to Khalistani elements and narco-terrorism.
Singh was facing a narcotics case and his link with the mafia was also established, he said.
The DGP said the explosive used in the blast was the kind that only terrorists have and it might have come from across the border.
Gagandeep Singh, the former cop, 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.
Singh was posted as a ‘munshi’ at a police station in Khanna and was sacked in connection with a drugs-related case.
He 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 case was scheduled for December 24, a day after the blast, the officer said.
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