Pakistan man among 5 charged in Ludhiana court blast case

MOHALI: The NIA has filed a charge sheet against five accused, including a Pakistan national, before a special court in the 2021 Ludhiana court complex blast case. Charges have been filed under several sections of the IPC and Explosive Substance Act 1908.
The accused include Gagandeep Singh alias Gagi, a resident of Khanna, Ludhiana; Surmukh Singh alias Sammu, a resident of Panju Kalan village in Amritsar; Dilbag Singh alias Baggo, a resident of Chak Allah Bakhsh village in Amritsar; Rajanpreet Singh, a resident of Bhandiar Rangarh in Gharinda and Zulfikar alias Phalwan, a resident of Dai Baddomalhi in Narowal, Pakistan.
A Pakistan-based arms and narcotics smuggler is among the five accused against whom the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charges in connection with the Ludhiana court complex blast case. The chargesheet has been filed in NIA special court, Mohali.
The case pertains to a bomb blast at Ludhiana court complex on December 23, 2021, in which one person was killed and six others were injured.
The chargesheet has been filed against Gagandeep Singh alias Gagi, a resident of Khanna, Ludhiana; Surmukh Singh alias Sammu, a resident of Panju Kalan village in Amritsar; Dilbag Singh alias Baggo, a resident of Chak Allah Bakhsh village in Amritsar; Rajanpreet Singh, a resident of Bhandiar Rangarh in Gharinda and Zulfikar alias Phalwan, a resident of Dai Baddomalhi in Narowal, Pakistan.
The accused have been chargesheeted under several sections of the IPC and Explosive Substance Act 1908.
According to the chargesheet, during investigation, it has been revealed that Lakhbir Singh Rode, a Pakistan-based International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist handler, had planned to execute improvised explosive device (IED) blasts at various locations in Punjab.
In order to execute this plans, Rode, 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.
In furtherance of the conspiracy to carry out IED blasts in Punjab, Lakhbir Singh Rode, with the help of Zulfikar alias Pehalwan, a Pakistan based smuggler, Harpreet Singh alias Happy Malaysia, Surmukh Singh alias Sammu, Dilbagh Singh and Rajanpreet Singh, formed a terror gang to carry out blasts and smuggle weapons into India. Lakhbir Singh Rode used the smuggling channels of Pakistan-based smuggler Zulfikar and his associates - Surmukh Singh and Harpreet Singh - to deliver the IED to Gagandeep Singh, who planted it to cause the blast in Ludhiana Court Complex and lost his life in the process.