Ludhiana court blast victim identified as ex-cop; Punjab DGP orders tough action against those disturbing law and order situation

Chandigarh: Punjab DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya on Friday directed senior police officials to take effective and stern action against those found disturbing peace and communal harmony in the poll-bound state.

DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya directed all commissioners of police/SSPs to launch preventive, precautionary and operational security measures to ensure peace and communal harmony in the state.

The DGP held a virtual meeting with the officers to review the crime situation. The meeting took place in the wake of a bomb blast in the Ludhiana district courts complex.

The bomb blast killed one person and injured six others, prompting the Punjab government to declare a high alert in the state.

The DGP directed the police officers to keep vigil at all sensitive places and deploy maximum police force at checkpoints besides ensuring patrolling at crowded places, including markets, bus stands and railway stations.

He directed police officers to activate control rooms and mobile patrolling. The DGP said no unauthorised security be given to any individual without the proper order from him or the ADGP, Security. In case it has already been given, it should be withdrawn within a day, he said.

Chattopadhyaya asked them to continue the crackdown against drug smugglers/suppliers.

He exhorted police officers to work together to identify people involved in drug smuggling and said efforts should be made to work in tandem with the Special Task Force (STF) to curb the sale of narcotics. 

Man killed in Ludhiana blast dismissed Punjab Police cop: Sources

The man killed in the Ludhiana districts court complex blast is learnt to have been identified as a dismissed Punjab Police head constable. Gagandeep Singh was a resident of Khanna in Ludhiana and dismissed from the post of head constable in some drug case, said police sources.

Police had earlier said they suspect that the man killed in the blast was trying to assemble or plant the explosive device.

Gagandeep's family in Khanna also learnt to have identified him, the sources said. He was dismissed from service in 2019, the police sources said. His mobile SIM card is believed to have helped identify him.

A bomb went off in the district courts complex in Ludhiana on Thursday, killing one person and injuring six others, prompting the Punjab government to declare a high alert in the state.

Ludhiana Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar had earlier in the day claimed that they have got some important clues during the investigation which would prove useful in cracking the case.

Police had earlier said a preliminary probe has revealed that the deceased is suspected to be either carrier of the explosive or a human bomb himself. He had a religious tattoo mark on one of his arms. A mobile phone has also been recovered from the debris, police said.

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