Punjab: Gurpreet lone wolf, had no handler, say investigators

According to security personnel, the 19-year-old resident of Jeeda village of Bathinda wanted to execute a lone wolf attack on a Kathua defence establishment

The 19-year-old law student from Bathinda’s Jeeda village, Gurpreet Singh, who is in jail for assembling explosives in his grandmother’s room on September 10, had no handler and there was no terror organisation linked to the episode, investigators have said. Gurpreet is learnt to have been influenced by the radical Islamic social media content.

Gurpreet Singh, 19, after a court hearing in Bathinda. (PTI file)

Sources close to the family said Gurpreet’s grandmother was visiting her extended family for a few days so he occupied her room temporarily. “After twin blasts last month in which Gurpreet and his father Jagtar Singh suffered serious injuries, we learnt that he was doing some kinds of experiments with chemicals,” said a villager, requesting anonymity. The first explosion was mild, but the second, which occurred in the evening, was intense. “Gurpreet was rushed to a hospital after he suffered injuries in the morning. People thought a mobile phone had exploded. When Jagtar reached home in the evening to collect Gurpreet’s Aadhaar card for registration in the hospital, he fell victim to another blast that took place when he tried to clean the broken window glass. That was a huge blast and everyone in the village took note of it,” said the villager.

Jagtar lost his left eye and suffered vision loss in the other eye. Sources said Jagtar has been discharged from the hospital and now he is living with a close family member for privacy and maintaining an infection-free environment after his critical eye surgeries. “The shocked parents have refused to hire a counsel for Gurpreet, who has admitted before a magistrate to his crime of assembling explosives and his alleged intention to target a strategic installation. A few persons are making efforts to convince the extended family to prepare Gurpreet’s parents to take legal advice,” said a person close to the family.

Family sources said that since his childhood, Gurpreet was rarely seen playing with his peer groups or first cousins living next door. “He was an overprotected kid. Gurpreet was good at studies. His parents always had the impression that he was busy studying online. Now, we learnt that he was watching damaging videos on the digital platforms,” the source added.

Multiple agencies, including the Punjab Police, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the army, are investigating the case. Investigators said they have not come across any evidence suggesting that Gurpreet had any handler or that he was associated with any terror organisation.

Sources in the multiple investigating agencies said that Gurpreet was self-radicalised and his digital habits showed that he was an ardent follower of the videos showing how to make bombs using a cocktail of chemicals.

“Probe says Gurpreet somehow started watching videos related to Islamic ideologues and the social media algorithm kept him engaged with similar content. Influenced by the videos, he bought chemicals after selling his mobile phone for about ₹45,000. No specific link has surfaced yet to indicate what made him watch such content. Gurpreet has a history of anxiety and he was under treatment for a psychological ailment at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). It cannot be ruled out that his self-radicalisation was associated with his mental health, as officials from the different agencies have not come across Gurpreet’s association with any anti-national force,” said investigators.

“His unsuccessful attempt to prepare an explosive device using a large variety of chemicals is a matter of deep concern. It shows that the youth could have posed a serious threat to anyone with his ability to make a bomb-like material. But there is no shred of evidence to link it with any fanatic or radical outfit,” said officials from at least two different investigating agencies.

Investigators said that a vest with multiple pockets was recovered and during questioning, Gurpreet told the officials from different agencies that he was intending a fidayeen attack on a defence establishment in Kathua.

“In the lack of ample evidence, stringent penal law like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has not been invoked yet in the case,” said another official.

Investigators said Gurpreet sourced chemicals online and he was collecting the couriers at different parts of the village. “There is still no clarity on the types of chemicals used as the forensic experts have yet to submit an analysis report. But the explosives were so aggressive that it took the bomb disposal teams from the Punjab police and the army 10 days. The chemicals were exploding when efforts were made to wash the house with water, and experts had a tough time even as they were using robots for the operation to clean up the explosion site,” said an official.