18 February 2004	Wednesday	26 Zilhaj 1424

GILGIT, Feb 17: Angry mobs on Tuesday blocked all city roads and forced the shops to close down to protest against the bomb blast incident in a Imambargah that hurt at least five people on Monday evening.

The law and order situation normalized in the evening when police and paramilitary forces started patrolling in the city. The Northern Areas Legislative Council member Deedar addressed a large number of protestors at Khazana Road and said that some extremist groups were active throughout the country. He claimed that Monday blast at an Imambargah was the act of same elements.

Speaking at a press conference, deputy commissioner of Gilgit, Jaudit Ayaz said that they had booked 13 suspects wanted in the Imambargah blast but did not disclose their names.

Mr Ayaz said that the suspects belonged to all schools of thought. He added that the samples gathered from Monday's Imambargah blast had been dispatched to Lahore for chemical analysis.

He however said they would lengthen their scope of operation only after receiving the result from Lahore. He said they had constituted a committee comprising police officials. He did not rule out involvement of sectarian outfits behind the blast.

Mr Ayaz said they had requisitioned over 1,200 paramilitary forces from NWFP and some army personnel from Gilgit to deal with the law and order situation during the Muharram.