Ludhiana blast case: Cops scan CCTV footage to unravel suspect Gagandeep's movement

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 28

Several questions related to Gagandeep Singh, the suspect behind the Ludhiana court complex blast on December 23, remain unanswered.

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For example, whom did he meet on the day of the blast? From where did he collect the explosives? Which route did he take from Khanna to reach the court complex? And, how did he reach the court?

The only clue the police have so far is the CCTV footage of Gagandeep, who was dismissed as a head constable in a drug case, and his woman friend, who is a constable, visiting Hotel Down Town, Khanna, before the blast.

A day after the explosion, the police seized the digital video recorder (DVR) from the hotel.

The probe revealed that on the day of the blast, Gagandeep left home at 9.30 am on his Activa scooter, went to the Civil Hospital, Khanna, and parked the scooter there.

“It is suspected that either Gagandeep’s aides dropped him at the Ludhiana court or he boarded a bus. Someone in Khanna might have given him the explosives,” a senior police official told The Tribune.

As per his wife, Gagandeep was not carrying any bag when he left home on December 23, raising the suspicion that explosives could have been handed over to him either in Khanna or Ludhiana.

Sources say the NIA and police have already checked footage of dozens of CCTV cameras, starting from his home in Professor Colony, Khanna, to the civil hospital. Even cameras installed on highways and markets in Khanna are being examined for clues. The police have no CCTV footage of Gagandeep’s presence in Ludhiana.