0
KARACHI, May 26: The suspects had planted the explosive device in a car which exploded first on Fatima Jinnah Road in front of the PACC on Wednesday.
It is suspected that they planted the magnet bomb after Mr Ahmed Majeed, a resident of KDA Scheme-I, parked his car (ADY 699) near the PACC Gate on Fatima Jinnah Road and went inside to attend his music class, police said.
The car used in the first blast was neither snatched, nor stolen. The owner has been taken into protective custody by the police. Majeed told the police that he parked his car as usual and went inside the centre. He didn't know how his car exploded.
A few days back, the police had arrested a suspected militant of the banned group Kamran alias Atif. Weapons and explosives were recovered from his possession which included a videocassette containing 250grams of explosive attached with a magnate. The police said that the videocassette could be glued to car's body or any other iron-made thing.
The vehicle in which second blast took place had a fake official registration number (GS-4240). It was snatched at gunpoint from Bahadurabad on Wednesday afternoon from Mr Shabbir Ahmed near Zubaida Hospital in Bahadurabad. It was snatched one- and-a-half hour before the incident at 3:30pm.
Its real registration number was (ADB-539). The suspects fixed a fake green colour official number, the police said and added that sketch of the suspect, who had snatched the car, was prepared with the help of the owner of the car.
A spokesman for the Sindh police, Dr Moizuddin Pirzada, said that the IGP Sindh, Syed Kamal Shah, constituted a high-level team to investigate the matter from all possible aspects.
The investigation team will work under the supervision of CCOP Asad Ashraf Malik. The CID police and special branch police were directed to assist the investigation team.
RUMOURS: The city remained in the grip of fear and panic on Wednesday as rumours circulated all-around following the second bomb blast on Fatima Jinnah Road near the PACC.
As the injured of the second blast were rushed to JPMC, rumours started circulating about a third blast at the hospital. The rumours were so strong that about a dozen ambulances, police mobiles and rangers rushed to the site i.e. Guru Mandir.
Initially, a private satellite channel and a senior police official confirmed the occurrence of a third blast near a mosque situated at Guru Mandir. However, when the law-enforcement personal reached the spot, they found nothing.
The DSP Jamshed Quarters was first to reach the spot and quash the rumours. Some police officials also started checking motorcycles parked in the parking lot of the hospital for some suspicious parcel, fearing more subversive acts.
An emergency was declared at the casualty ward of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre when the wounded were brought in for treatment. However, a security alert by the law-enforcement agencies at the hospital created hardships for the incoming patients.
A visit to the emergency ward of the hospital showed that when senior government functionaries started coming to inquire about the health of the injured, doors leading to the emergency ward were closed by the policemen, escorting the VIP. Similarly, when senior police officials visited the hospital, same situation was again witnessed.
