The man killed in the recent blast in a court complex in Ludhiana was himself carrying the explosive, the Punjab Police said on Saturday, ANI reported.

Director General of Police Siddharth Chattopadhyaya identified the deceased man as Gangandeep Singh, a dismissed police official.

Singh, who lived in Khanna city of Ludhiana district, had been dismissed from service in 2019 and spent two years in jail following his arrest in a drug trafficking case, Chattopadhyaya told reporters.

Singh was recently out on bail and a hearing of his case was scheduled for Friday in the court of Ludhiana Additional Sessions Judge Shatin Goyal. It was later adjourned to February 3, the Hindustan Times reported.

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“Most probably in the jail he came in touch with others [criminals] and his transition from narcotics to mafia to drugs is a very dangerous combination, which has come to the fore,” the director general of police said, according to The Hindu. “...The investigation revealed that there are links within the jail, across Punjab and from abroad with [separatist group] Khalistani elements, terror outfits, mafias and narcotic smugglers.”

Six persons were injured in the explosion at the district court complex in Ludhiana on Thursday. Hours after the blast, the police had said that they suspect that the man who died on the second-floor toilet of the court complex was trying to assemble or plant an explosive device.

“He [Gangandeep Singh] was identified from a tattoo on his body and a mobile phone recovered from the spot,” Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa told The Indian Express on Friday.

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Political leaders have alleged that the blast was an attempt to create disturbance in Punjab ahead of Assembly elections in early 2022. Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday said the state government has sought assistance from the Centre to investigate the explosion.

Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju visited the Ludhiana court complex and said the Centre and the Punjab government will work together to take strong action against the culprits.