Mumbai: MHA directs NIA to probe Khalistani role in terror conspiracy, say sources

In a key development, Republic on Wednesday learnt that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed the National Investigation Team (NIA) to probe a massive conspiracy of terror attack in Mumbai. Sources say that the conspiracy was being hatched by a Khalistani organisation, and its leader Jaswinder Singh Multani and his accomplice in India and abroad will be probed by the Central agency for the same.

It is pertinent to mention here that Multani is a suspect in the recent bomb blast in Ludhiana. Based on intelligence inputs from India, German authorities had detained Multani. While in detention, he was questioned on the inputs provided by Indian agencies to the authorities in Berlin through diplomatic channels.

Ludhiana bomb blast

An explosion occurred at a Ludhiana court on Thursday at around 12:25 pm. As per sources, the blast occurred in a women's washroom on the third floor inside the court premises. Visuals from the scene show walls and parts of the ceiling damaged in the third-floor washroom of courtroom no. 14.

As per the investigative agencies, the preliminary probe has revealed that one of the two killed-Gagandeep Singh is the prime accused in the case. Singh was a police constable posted as munshi at Sadar Khanna police station but was dismissed from service after a case was registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. As a result, he was put in jail in 2019 and was only released in the month of September this year.  

Two other suspects in the case - Ranjit Singh and Sukhwinder Singh - who are said to be aids of Gangandeep have also been put under official arrest. The duo after their arrest were produced before the Magistrate court, which has remanded them to seven-day police custody. 

Investigating agencies have recovered seven mobile phones that had allegedly been used by the accused in the city's central jail. Punjab Police sources have revealed that a few of these devices were used by prime accused Gagandeep Singh while operating the blast, to make 'international calls'. Ranjit Singh and Sukhwinder Singh -- who was also lodged in the same jail allegedly used these phones too, the sources said. 

All devices have been sent to the forensic lab for further examination.