February 12, 2003	Wednesday	Zul Hijjah 10, 1423

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KARACHI, Feb 11: Police on Tuesday arrested the importer, who had imported explosive material under the garb of electronic items, which exploded at the Sambrial dry port on Feb 4, killing 17 people and injuring 35 others.

A police official said that the Gujranwala police had contacted the Karachi police and inquired about Irfan Memon, importer of the consignment, who lived in Kharadar and ran his business from the city.

“We have been contacted by the DIG, Gujranwala, Malik Iqbal, and have been given some information. We tried to locate the importer and finally arrested near his office, located at the Hashoo Centre on the Abdullah Haroon Road”, the DSP, Preedy, Aijaz Hashmi told Dawn.

He said that Irfan Memon had booked the consignment from Dubai for Sambrial. Memon was, he added, a commission agent for the consignment.

According to him, the genuine importer was a resident of Gujranwala and the police were looking for him.

A police party arrived in the city from Sambrial to take Irfan along with them some time late Tuesday night, he added.

The explosion occurred in a 40-foot-long container, which was parked in the import shed of the Sambrial dry port in the Daska tehsil.