Man killed in Ludhiana blast identified, was a dismissed Punjab cop: Report

TIL Desk/National/Ludhiana/ The man killed in the Ludhiana district court blast is learnt to have been identified as Gagandeep Singh, a Punjab Police head constable who was dismissed from service. Singh was a resident of Khanna in Ludhiana and was dismissed from the post of head constable in connection with a drugs-related case in 2019, police sources said.

Police had earlier said they suspect that the man killed in the blast on the second-floor toilet of the court complex was trying to assemble or plant the explosive device. Singh’s family in Khanna is also learnt to have identified him, the sources said. The SIM card of the deceased is believed to have helped identify him.

The explosion took place in the court complex on Thursday, killing Singh and injuring six others, prompting the Punjab government to declare a high alert in the state. Earlier in the day, Ludhiana Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said they have got important clues during investigation, which would prove to be useful in cracking the case.

Police had earlier said a preliminary probe had revealed that the deceased was probably the carrier of the explosive or a human bomb himself. He had a “religious” tattoo on his arms. A mobile phone has also been recovered from the debris, police had said.