NIA raid on Ludhiana court blast accused's house

Chandigarh, March 30 (IANS) A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team on Wednesday conducted searches in Punjab's Khanna town in connection with the Ludhiana district court complex bomb blast that killed one person and injured five others in December last year.

The NIA team conducted a raid at the house of Gagandeep Singh, an accused-cum-deceased in the blast, in the morning, an official told IANS.

A high intensity explosion at Ludhiana's court complex on December 23, 2021, had killed the suspected bomber Gagandeep Singh, dismissed Punjab Police head constable.

Later, the police arrested Jaswinder Singh Multan, a top member of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), in Germany for allegedly being the main conspirator.

He was arrested after India shared evidence to counter-terror agencies in Berlin.

Multan was conspiring to bring in more explosives from Pakistan in India through the international boundary and was also planning to carry out similar blasts in other parts of the country.

It is also alleged that Multan was also behind pushing arms in the Khemkaran area of Punjab's Tarn Taran district in October last year.

On December 23 last year, the explosion took place in a washroom on the second floor of the District and Sessions court complex in Ludhiana around 12.22 p.m.

The state counter-terrorism agencies probing the incident had claimed that it was Gagandeep Singh, who planted the bomb at the court complex and died as it suddenly went off killing him on the spot.

Gagandeep Singh was dismissed from the service for having links with durg dealer. He was booked under NDPS act and lodged in jail for two years in this connection in 2019.

The probe agencies have also found that Pakistani's ISI were behind the blast and were in touch with Gagandeep Singh. During the probe, cops found the role of SFJ members Harvinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh Multan, who were based in Germany. They were in touch with SFJ president Avtar Singh Pannu and Harmeet Singh.