MULTAN, March 2: An anti-terrorist court judge was wounded and three people, two of them police constables, were killed when a bomb attached to a bicycle exploded near the judge’s car here on Friday.

Judge Bashir Ahmed Bhatti, who is scheduled to hear a case involving Lashkar-i-Jhangvi chief Malik Ishaq on March 5, was on his way to the court. When his car was near the Kathcahri Chowk, the bicycle parked on the roadside close to a basketball court in the Divisional Sports Ground exploded at 8:50am.

The blast wrecked the car and driver Iqbal Ahmed and constable Muneer Ahmed, sitting in the front seat, were seriously injured and died on way to the Nishter Hospital.

Another police constable, Ejaz Ahmed, who was one of the two motorcyclists guarding Mr Bhatti, suffered serious injuries and died at the hospital. The judge and nine others who were injured are said to be out of danger.

The injured, besides Mr Bhatti, were identified as Bilal Ahmed, Jahangir, Nadeem, Faheem Raza, Khalid Hussain, Abdul Rauf, Abdul Hameed, Ghulam Hussain and Muhammad Saeed.

A man who was at the place told Dawn that there was a loud bang and he saw two constables lying on the ground. Mr Bhatti was trapped in the car; he was crying with pain and blood was oozing out of his wounds, he added.

Another witness said he saw a bicycle seven to eight feet in the air. The bicycle was parked there for about 20 minutes, he claimed.

Police believe that the blast was carried out through a remote-control held by a man standing on a flyover near the place. He was monitoring Mr Bhatti’s car and pressed the remote button when the car reached near the bicycle.

DPO Multan Muneer Ahmed confirmed the death of three people.

RPO Multan Mirza Mohammad Ali said the judge knew he was on the hit list of terrorists, and he was using different routes for going to his office and returning from there.

He said the attack had a sectarian link. He claimed that police would succeed in finding the people involved in the attack, just as it had traced those involved in the Chichawatni blast on February 24.

Meanwhile, the three deceased were laid to rest here.

COMPENSATION: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has announced a compensation of Rs500,000 for the heirs of each of the deceased, free education for their children, full salary till their retirement age and jobs for their children on attaining the required age.