Punjab Police on Saturday cracked the Ludhiana court bomb blast case after identifying the accused-cum-victim, Gagandeep Singh (31), a former head constable with Punjab Police who was arrested for heroin possession in 2019 and released on bail in September this year.

It is believed he developed links with pro-Khalistan elements while in jail, and these elements were in touch with Pakistani spy agency ISI and a Germany-based Khalistani group who planned the blast.

The high intensity explosion occurred in a public toilet at the district court complex in Ludhiana on Thursday, which left one person dead and six others injured. As per the police, Singh was the person who died while planting the bomb. He had reportedly strapped the bomb around his stomach to give the security personnel a slip.

The accused’s wife, Jaspreet Kaur, recognised the tattoo mark on the arm of Singh and the clothes worn by him.

Singh also reportedly conducted a recee of the court complex to execute his plan. He was recruited in the police as a constable before being dismissed in August 2019 after heroin was recovered from his possession.

In a media interaction on Saturday, Punjab DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya said the accused was working in Khanna town when he was arrested with heroin and an NDPS case was registered against him. The case is still under trial at the prosecution evidence stage, said the DGP. He said after spending two years in a Ludhiana jail in connection with the case, Singh got out on bail in September and was supposed to appear in the court again on December 24.

The DGP said that preliminary investigations suggest that the accused wanted to create fear and panic in the court premises.

“Preliminary investigations suggest that the accused could have developed links with pro-Khalistan elements in the jail, who used him to target the court premises with the intention of disturbing peace in the state,” said Chattopadhyaya.

The Punjab Police have found that ISI was helping a Germany-based radical Khalistani group which helped in execution of the blast. The probe of Punjab Police has also revealed that Khalistani operatives are working with the drug mafia and Pakistan-based arms and narcotic dealers.

This shows how drug dealers having international connections are working with Khalistani operatives and ISI agents with an intention to create terror and to carry out terror activities in Punjab and other parts of the nation. A top police source said that they want to create an anarchy-like situation in Punjab.

In April, a Khalistani-ISI narco-terror module was busted along the border in Punjab. ISI is also working hard to link up Kashmiri and Khalistani terrorists along with the drug mafia. Last December, 3 Kashmiri and 2 Khalistani terrorists were arrested after a shootout with Delhi Police; 2 kg of heroin was also recovered from them.

A former policeman carrying out the Ludhiana blast is another danger sign regarding the health of Punjab Police. Lately, Punjab jails have become dens of all sorts of crimes, including assassination plots being hatched or providing safe harbor to dangerous criminals from other states like Mukhtar Ansari. It is time for firm action in Punjab to prevent the situation from slipping out of hand.