The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a supplementary chargesheet against two persons in connection with the Ludhiana court complex bomb blast, in which one person was killed and six others injured on December 23, 2021.
The agency has accused Pakistan-based Lakhbir Singh Rode, who belongs to Moga in Punjab, as the mastermind of the attack. He had got Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) smuggled into India for triggering explosions across Punjab. He heads the banned outfits Khalistan Liberation Force and International Sikh Youth Federation.
Another accused arraigned in the chargesheet is Harpreet Singh aka Happy Malaysia, who is from Amritsar. The NIA had declared a reward of ₹10 lakh on him. He was arrested in December 2022 soon after he landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi from Malaysia.
The agency has invoked various provisions under the Indian Penal Code, Explosive Substances Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act against the two accused. It has alleged that the IED which exploded in the Ludhiana Court complex had been smuggled into Punjab by Rode from across the border with the help of Pakistan-based drug smugglers and their Indian associates, including Happy Malaysia.
In the same case, which was initially registered by the Ludhiana police, the NIA had filed a chargesheet against five persons in January. The agency said that the bomb was carried by accused Gagandeep Singh, who died in the explosion. The others named in the chargesheet were Surmukh Singh, Dilbag Singh and Rajanpreet Singh from Punjab in India, apart from Zulfikar aka Phalwan, who is from Narowal’s Baddomalhi in Pakistan.
