December 17, 2003	Wednesday	Shawwal 22, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, Dec 16: President Gen Pervez Musharraf, who escaped a bomb blast on Sunday night, paid a surprise visit to the damaged Leh bridge on Tuesday.

He arrived at the scene of the blast at about 4:45pm and remained there for more than 20 minutes.

Accompanied by his personnel staff, the president inspected the damaged part of the 105-ft bridge and collected information regarding the incident.

The deputy inspector-general of police, Israr Ahmed, and the district police officer, Syed Moravat Ali Shah, were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the investigation teams have made no headway into the incident so far. However, a wooden ladder, suspected to have been used by the “terrorist” for fixing the bomb beneath the bridge, and a detonator, have been recovered from the site, a source said.

When the DPO Rawalpindi was asked about the investigation progress, he said several teams were independently working on it and it would be too early to say anything.

On the other hand, the police have been questioning more than 24 people in connection with the Sunday’s blast.

In a related development, the deputy inspector-general of police held a meeting with military officials at the 10-Corps Headquarters on Tuesday night and informed them about the progress made in the case, the source said.