Ludhiana court blast: Punjab STF arrests alleged IED supplier

Chandigarh: In a major development, the Special Task Force of Punjab Police and NIA have cracked the Ludhiana court bomb blast case. The police on Saturday arrested the main accused whose identity has been kept secret.

"Punjab Police has cracked Ludhiana court blast case, the main accused has been arrested by STF team of Border Range", Director General of Punjab Police VK Bhawra said, adding, "The IED used in the blast was trafficked through a drone backed by ISI".

The DGP said that the operation was conducted in coordination with the central agency, National Investigation Agency (NIA).

A police investigation has revealed that the juvenile would provide technical support to the couriers of Khalistani gangs by generating international numbers from the internet for making phone calls. The arrested criminals were found smuggling improvised explosive devices from Pakistan.

Those arrested on Friday include Surmukh Singh, Harpreet Singh, Dilbag Singh alias Baggo and Savinder Singh alias Bhola, along with a juvenile.

The accused, Surmukh Singh, was already in jail and has been brought on a production warrant. He was earlier arrested in connection with another recovery of an IED in January this year.

Police investigations also revealed that the IED used in the Ludhiana blast was smuggled from Pakistan and was airdropped by a drone.

The IED was received by Dilbag Singh just two days before the blast. He handed over the bomb to Surmukh Singh, who further gave it to Gagandeep Singh who was killed in the blast while planting the IED. Gagandeep Singh was a Punjab Police cop dismissed from service.

The accused Dilbag and Sawinder both have a criminal history and were also booked for narcotics smuggling in the past. The police have also recovered two Pakistani SIM cards from Dilbag Singh.

One person was killed and six others were injured in the blast reported on December 23 in Ludhiana court complex last year.

The NIA had registered a case against Germany-based Khalistani terrorist Jaswinder Singh Multani who is a member of the banned Khalistani outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).

Multani's involvement has also been found in the Chandigarh's Budail jail IED planting case registered on April 24.