MAZARI GOTH (Rajanpur), Jan 27: The Sui Northern experts have ruled out the possibility of any technical fault being behind the Sunday night’s pipeline blast, saying it was clearly an act of sabotage.
SNGPL officials arrived here early in the morning to examine and repair the ruptured gas pipelines. The fire that broke out in the piplines at 11.30pm on Sunday had been extinguished, but the affected area was still baking despite a light rain during the day.
The earth around the site of the blast has turned brown and the burnt remains of birds and reptiles can be seen scattered in the area. The pipes were laid five feet under the surface, with the site situated almost one kilometer away towards Sui from the site of the Jan 21 blast in the same line.
Deep pits have been created around the piplines, which were torn into pieces in the blast.
Officials of the law-enforcement agencies were of the view that the pipelines had ruptured due to a technical fault and that the possibility of a sabotage was out of question because they were on ‘guard’ to avert any such incident.
However, according to information gathered by this correspondent, only a few Shahwali policemen were patrolling the Sui road to safeguard Wapda installations and equipment. Personnel of neither the Rangers nor of the Bhanbhor Rifles (an ancillary to the Frontier Constabulary) were seen patrolling at night.
An SNGPL engineer working on the site said it was unlikely that both the pipelines developed technical faults at the same time and moreover a rupture caused by a technical fault would have made an eye-shape opening in the pipeline. He said the pipes could endure gas pressure up to 2000 pounds PSI (per square inch) while at the time of the blast the pressure was only 900 PSI.
He said a 100-foot portion of each of the pipes had been damaged in the blast but some 400 feet pieces of both the pipes would be replaced as a precautionary measure. He hoped that the repair work would be completed within the next 24 hours.
The repair work at the damaged portion of the pipes after the last blast took more time because then the valve assembly (18 miles from Sui) was attacked, which involved complex technical work.
There was a general resentment in the area against what residents alleged was the government’s inability to settle its affairs with Nawab Bugti who has minced no words in media interviews about the objective behind the attacks on the gas pipelines in Mazari Goth.
Talking to Dawn, Sardar Riaz Mazari, the son of Mazari chief Mir Balakh Sher, said after the recent statements of the Bugti tribe chief, the pipeline blasts were no more a mystery. He accused Nawab Akbar Bugti of fighting a “proxy war” against the government in the Mazari area.
DSP, SHO KIDNAPPED: Meanwhile, highwaymen reportedly belonging to the Bugti tribe kidnapped the Rojhan Mazari DSP and the SHO along with their guards late Sunday night. The DSP was later freed.
Sadar DSP Rana Mansoor and SHO Farooq Leghari along with guards were patroling the area when they were intercepted by some 30 men riding four vehicles of the Sui Gas near Chowki Kin, Gandha Nahirr. They kidnapped the DSP, the SHO and their guards and also took away the official vehicle of the DSP.
Later, they released the DSP after travelling at least 20 kilometres towards the Bugti area.
The Rajanpur SSP was not available at his office for comment. However, Musarrat Khan Mazari confirmed that the local people had informed the police that they had seen some 30 Bugti highwaymen in the Mazari area near the gas pipeline installation.
It is the second incident of hijacking of a police jeep; the first incident had taken place some two years ago when the SSP was deprived of his jeep at Aasni by the Bugti outlaws. They had returned the jeep after taking the ransom money.
