QUETTA, March 21: An activist of a religious party was injured while preparing an explosive device in a mosque in Usta Mohammad, a township of Jaffarabad district, some 380kms east of here, on Monday. “He was making a bomb in the mosque to plant somewhere in the township,” the district police officer, Jaffarabad district, Khadim Hussain Rind, told Dawn over the telephone from Usta Mohammad, and added that the injured man was arrested along with three others in this connection.

“They all belong to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam,” he said, and added that explosive material, a notebook on how to prepare a bomb, detonators, fuse wires and other paraphernalia were recovered from their house which was adjacent to the mosque. He said the injured was identified as Abdul Haleem who belongs to Jacobabad and came to Usta Mohammad on Sunday night, while the three others were all brothers and residents of Usta Mohammad.

Haleem was making an explosive device in the Amroti Mosque when it accidentally exploded as a result of which he was injured. The people of the area on hearing the explosion and seeing smoke arising out of the mosque informed the police about the incident.

Police rushed to the spot and took the injured man to the hospital after taking him into custody. Police also arrested the three brothers who were identified as Mohammad Aslam, Abdul Bari and Abdul Basit.

Police raided the house next to the mosque and recovered notes and materials being used for making explosive devices. “We are interrogating the accused to get information as to where he wanted to plant bombs in the township,” DPO Jaffarabad said, and added that more arrests could not be ruled out in this connection.