PESHAWAR, Dec 1: A bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in the Defence Officers Colony on Friday evening, killing one person. It was not clear if the man died was a suicide bomber or someone else had attached the explosives to the bike, provincial police officer Mohammad Raffat Pasha said. “He had covered his head and, therefore, we suspect that he might be a saboteur,” he added.

A witness said that the motorcycle was parked there for more than an hour and the person killed was only a bystander.

The body was intact and, therefore, it might not be a case of suicide bombing, said another police officer.

The explosion took place adjacent to the office of a cable television network. The owner and employees of the network told Dawn that they had never received any threat from anyone.

The deceased was identified as Roohul Ameen, 32, of Chagarmati in the suburbs of Peshawar. One car was also damaged and window-panes of some shops in an adjacent market were shattered.

The explosion created panic in the Defence colony, a posh neighbourhood in the cantonment area.

"We are investigating the blast and can't say at this stage if it was part of the series of explosions in the provincial capital over the past two months," Mr Pasha said.

Six explosions have taken place in the provincial capital during the last two months and one of them was believed to be a suicide bombing. A large number of army and police personnel cordoned off the area.