Pakistani national among 5 chargesheeted in Ludhiana court blast case

New Delhi, Jan 8 (PTI) Five people including a Pakistani national were chargesheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a case related to a bomb explosion in a Ludhiana court in December 2021 that left a suspected terrorist dead and six civilians injured, an official said on Sunday.

The agency filed the chargesheet against the accused in a special NIA court, Mohali in Punjab on Saturday, a spokesperson for the federal agency said.

The case was initially registered on December 23 at Police Station Division -5, Ludhiana Commissionerate, Punjab and re-registered by the NIA on January 13, 2022.

During Investigation, the spokesperson said it has been revealed that Pakistan-based International Sikh Youth Federation and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist handler Lakhbir Singh Rode had planned to execute IED blasts at various locations in Punjab.

“In order to execute the plan, he, in association with Pakistan-based smugglers, recruited India-based operatives to smuggle IEDs and to carry out blasts to cause maximum casualties and to strike terror among the general public,” the official said.

In furtherance of the conspiracy to carry out IED blasts in Punjab, the NIA said Rode, with the help of Pakistan-based cross-border arms-explosives-narcotics smuggler Zulfikar alias Pehalwan, Harpreet Singh alias Happy Malaysia, Surmukh Singh alias Sammu, Dilbagh Singh alias Baggo and Rajanpreet Singh, formed a terror gang.

Rode used the smuggling channels of Pakistan-based smuggler Zulfikar and his associates to deliver the IED to Gagandeep Singh alias Gagi who planted it to cause the blast in Ludhiana Court Complex and lost his life in the process, the spokesperson said.

The charge sheet was filed against Gagi (dead), Sammu, Baggo, Rajanpreet Singh — all residents of Punjab — and Zulfikar under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Explosive Substances Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.