19 January 2005	Wednesday	08 Zilhaj 1425

HYDERABAD, Jan 18: A powerful blast early Tuesday morning damaged one of the foundation pillars of the Hyderabad bypass, creating panic in the city.

The explosion, which ripped apart iron and concrete layers of the pillar, was of such intensity that police force of several stations in Jamshoro and Hyderabad rushed to determine the place of the blast.

According to bomb disposal squad officials, the blast was caused by seven explosive devices of one pound each tied with a rope to the fourth pillar of the Hyderabad bypass which connects it with the Indus and National highways and passes over the River Indus. The devices exploded simultaneously. No human casualty was reported, but some birds were found dead near the pillar.

Immediately after the explosion, SHOs of Kotri, Jamshoro, Baldia, Bhitai Naggar and Qasimabad, and Motorway police personnel visited different areas in their jurisdiction to identify the place of the incident. However, till 10am they were unable to determine where the blast had taken place.

It was a boy working in a nearby field who found the pillar in a damaged condition and informed the Motorway police, who sent messages to other officials. Officials of Military Intelligence, Inter Services Intelligence, police, Motorway police and the National Highway Authority officials visited the site.

NHA assistant director Khalid Rasheed said that a team of consultants, who had built the bypass, along with NHA officials, would visit the site to decide how it would be repaired. He said that the pillar was two-meter thick. He, however, ruled out any threat to the bridge.

Bomb disposal squad official Ramzan Panwhar said that the devices, tied in a row at around five- to six-foot from the bottom of the pillar, were 'non-electrical' and were exploded by safety fuses. He maintained that if had electrical devices been used, wires or particles would have been found.

Additional Dadu DPO Mazhar Shaikh said that the jurisdiction of the area was yet to be determined. He said that it was an obvious case of sabotage. A caller, who identified himself as 'Col Murad' and a 'commander of the Sindh National Liberation Front', owned the responsibility for the blast.

He claimed that like previous blasts in Sindh, this had also been carried out by the SNLF. He said that the front would carry out such activities till President Pervez Musharraf abandoned the Kalabagh dam and the greater Thal canal projects. He said the front would now target railway lines and trains. Till the filing of this report, no FIR was lodged at Jamshoro or Bhitai Naggar police stations.