KARACHI, June 21: The Nishtar Park blast inquiry tribunal summoned on Wednesday the person who took charge of the stage at 2 pm on April 11 on behalf of the organizers of the Eid-i-Milad function.
The tribunal also asked the Additional Advocate-General, Sarwar Khan, who is assisting the inquiry on behalf of the provincial government, to ascertain the whereabouts of an eye-witness who said the blast was caused by some object thrown from the stage itself. Qari Abdul Rehman told Maulana Asghar Dars that he was sitting on the stage when something thrown from it exploded in the air. The AAG said he would also produce guards who were assigned to the prominent organisers. The tribunal said it would first complete recording of evidence about the condition of the stage before, during and after the blast.
Concluding his testimony earlier, Inspector Mohammad Iqbal of the bomb disposal unit, produced a sketch showing the direction of the pellets discharged by the device carried by the unknown suicide bomber from a distance of eight feet from the stage. He said the sketch depicting the trajectory of pellets from a distance of 27 feet from the stage would be submitted later. Advocate Javaid Ahmed Chhatari of the Pakistan Sunni Movement submitted two sketches drawn by him.
The inspector said the pellets numbered 100 to 150, could hit up to 45 feet and weighed from six to 15 grams. The sound of the blast could be heard up to four kilometres and its flash had a radius of four to six feet. He said his belief that the device exploding in the park on April 11 weighed five kilograms was not based merely on its sound but also on other factors. He agreed that the impact of a blast would partially depend on the density of the material it was made of and packed in.
Bodies of people standing close to the blast could be blown up like that of the suicide bomber. Gunfire report was distinct from the blast sound and he did not hear any bullet being fired. The hearing of people standing or sitting within a 50-foot radius could be affected. He said he submitted a detailed report on the blast on April 14 to the SSP Security and did not consider it necessary to repeat all the details in a statement given by him to DSP Raza Ali Shah, who is investigating the case, under Section 161 of the CrPC.
Sub-inspector Niaz Hussain of the Soldier Bazaar police station said he accompanied SI Musaab Hussain of the bomb disposal unit during ‘sweeping’ of the stage at Nishtar Park from 11-30 am to 1 pm on April 11 in the presence of Jamaat Ahle Sunnat workers. Jamshed Town peace committee chairman Amin Khandwala inquired about the inspection. The Ahle Sunnat workers told him that the organizers’ representative would come after the Zuhar prayers. Mohammad Hussain Lakhani arrived at 2 pm and he handed the stage to him. The banners were checked from below and a tent near the VIP gate of the park was also combed, the SI said.
