E-Paper
Punjab: NIA court denies bail to accused in 2021 Ludhiana court blast case
The Punjab Police conducted the initial probe but later the case was handed over to the NIA in January 2022
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mohali on Tuesday denied bail to Rajanpreet Singh, one of the accused in the 2021 Ludhiana court complex bomb blast case.
Rajanpreet, 34, of Bhadiar village in Amritsar, who was arrested on August 23, 2022, from his house, had sought regular bail from the court of Manjot Kaur, special judge, NIA.
The explosion had killed the improvised explosive device (IED) bomb handler, identified as Gagandeep Singh, and injured five others on December 23, 2021, according to the NIA.
The Punjab Police conducted the initial probe but later the case was handed over to the NIA in January 2022.
The counsel for the applicant seeking bail claimed that Rajanpreet was falsely implicated in the case by the investigating agency on the basis of disclosure statements of coaccused — Surmukh Singh and Dilbagh Singh.
Opposing the bail, the NIA contended that during the course of investigation, one suspect namely Gagandeep Singh of GTB Nagar, Lalheri Road, Khanna, Ludhiana, who was found dead in the blast, was the handler of bomb and he was arraigned as accused in the instant case.
“Investigation revealed that applicant Rajanpreet Singh was involved in narcotics smuggling in association with Surmukh Singh and Zulfikar, alias Pehalwan, and was having direct links with other Pakistan-based arms smugglers. He along with Dilbagh Singh used to collect the consignment of heroin for Surmukh from the border areas, which were sent by Zulfikar and other Pakistan smugglers from across the border through drone and other means and used to hand over to Surmukh . Dilbagh and Rajanpreet willingly became members of the terror gang on the motivation of Surmukh,” NIA stated while seeking dismissal of the bail plea.
The NIA further stated that on December 4, 2021, all three planned the process of collection and delivery of IED to Gagandeep. On December 15, they delivered the IED to Gagandeep at Ladhowal toll plaza, which was used by him to execute the bomb blast at the court complex.
Denying bail to Rajanpreet, the court observed that the accused Surmukh is the cousin of accused Harpreet Singh alias Happy Malaysia, who went to Malaysia in 2006 and is stated to have come in contact with a Pakistan entity namely Changrez Khan alias Changezi there.
Changezi had further introduced him to another Pakistan-based arms smuggler Zulfikar and others.
The IED used in the blast was sent by Pakistan-based International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) chief Lakhbir Singh Rode Rode into Punjab via the cross-border smuggling route, the NIA said. He had conspired with Zulfikar, Happy Malaysia, Surmukh Singh, Dilbagh Singh, Rajanpreet Singh and Gagandeep Singh formed a terror gang to carry out blasts and smuggle arms into the Indian territory, the NIA court said.
The court further said that Rajanpreet was stated to be deeply involved in the criminal conspiracy of the case and thus the custody of the applicant was required for fair and speedy trial of the case.
