NIA begins probe into twin blasts involving 'radicalised' law student
BATHINDA, Sept. 17 -- After the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has initiated investigations into the twin high-intensity blasts at Bathinda's Jeeda village in which a radicalised law student and his father sustained severe injuries.
Official sources said that a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) rank officer from the NIA's Chandigarh office visited the crime scene on Tuesday.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amneet Kondal said that the NIA official had earlier briefly questioned the 19-year-old accused, Gurpreet Singh, at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Bathinda, on Saturday.
Officials of the NIA, the central counter-terrorism law enforcement agency, are tight-lipped over the probe.
Investigators from the district police said they are waiting for Gurpreet to recover from surgery before his detailed questioning. Gurpreet's hand was amputated last week, after the blast impact injured it while he was assembling explosives at his residence on the morning of September 10. "The motive behind sourcing highly explosive material and assembling it is still baffling. He (Gurpreet) is yet to be arrested formally due to his poor medical condition," a police official privy to the probe, said, pleading anonymity.
On September 10, Gurpreet was rushed to a private hospital in Bathinda last Wednesday. Hours later, his father, Jagtar Singh, also suffered serious injuries in another explosion. The district police learnt about the twin blasts after 24 hours, only when the hospital alerted the cops. Police authorities said that, prima facie, Jagtar was not aware that his son suffered injuries while assembling chemicals, hence only Gurpreet had been booked. Bathinda SSP said on Tuesday evening that the bomb disposal teams of the state police, who have been working since September 11 to mop up the explosive residue, have yet to declare the house safe.
"District police have to get a clearance about the house from the bomb disposal team. We are still awaiting the forensic findings about the chemicals that caused the explosions. We are also looking for forensic details on Gurpreet's phone for further breakthrough in the probe," the SSP added. Two minor blasts were also reported on Sunday when the bomb disposal teams were clearing the site using the robots. According to cops, Gurpreet was an ardent follower of Pakistan-based terrorist Azhar Masood, head of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed.
After registering a criminal case against Gurpreet, the SSP had stated the accused's mobile phone had several videos and a search history for links to Islamic radicals and assembling explosives. SSP further added that Gurpreet had created a fake social media user identity to follow various handles containing extremists' content. HT had earlier reported, quoting the SSP, that the accused had psychiatric issues and he was treated at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh....
To read the full article or to get the complete feed from this publication, please
Contact Us.