KARACHI, Oct 23: While the police on Tuesday claimed to have made some progress on investigations into last week’s twin bombings that targeted the Pakistan People’s Party rally, the PPP itself set up a special cell to probe the incident, a move that casts serious doubts over the party leadership’s confidence in the police department.
Meanwhile, an additional three victims of the October 18 tragedy were identified and the Sohrab Goth Edhi morgue handed the bodies over to the families. The death of another blast victim on Tuesday took the overall toll to 141.
According to a senior official, the police have traced the ownership details of two vehicles that had been parked suspiciously close to the site of the blasts, despite the fact that these vehicles were so badly damaged by the ensuing fire that identity had earlier seemed unlikely.
The police did not approach the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) for the purposes of establishing the vehicles’ identity, which along with Benazir Bhutto’s bullet-proof vehicle were parked at the Expo Centre the day after the incident.
“We have all the expertise commanded by the CPLC so it was not necessary to call upon them,” said Capital City Police Chief Officer (CCPO) Azhar Ali Farooqi, adding that the police have traced the vehicles’ owners but there is as such no major breakthrough.
According to sources within the police department, a number of investigation officials – including members of federal intelligence agencies from Islamabad – visited the Expo Centre to examine all three vehicles and collect samples. “The two vehicles -- a mini Pajero and a Santro -- are not in a condition that could give a clue to their colour or other details,” said a source close to these officials. “The samples are likely to help in the examination of the nature of the explosives used,” said the sources, mentioning that the police have already completed their work on the damaged vehicles.
The CCPO also ruled out any possibility of gaining a significant lead from the vehicles but said that the police had been questioning every person that could help accelerate the pace of the investigation. “We have only involved certain people for questioning,” he stated, emphasising that there has been no arrest or detention. Asked about the interrogation of the family of some of the policemen killed in the bombings, he reiterated “we are in the process of investigations, which includes such questioning. We are gathering information from the injured and the family of everyone who lost their lives.”
A senior official said the investigation team took over all the eight cameras installed on the truck carrying the PPP leadership but they were unlikely to provide any significant help.
“The cameras could not provide the required footage due to their incapability of filming night scenes,” he added. “During meetings with the PPP leadership for security arrangement before Ms Bhutto’s arrival, the authorities had asked the party to acquire those cameras which are capable of recording at night but the advice went unheeded.”
PPP sets up probe cell
However, the PPP appears dissatisfied with the manner in which police investigations are continuing and on Tuesday set up its own team to collect evidence from the injured or other witnesses. “We have some serious reservations on the conventional method of investigation that the police have been applying to this grave incident,” Nazim F. Haji, the head of the PPP investigation cell, told Dawn. “The police first mishandled the site of the crime and in the short span of eight hours, cleaned up the scene,” he elaborated.
Mr. Haji, an industrialist, was the first chief of the CPLC when it was set up in 1989. He told Dawn that the PPP cell would initially focus on collecting data that could provide any lead and would later expand its scope.
“We are starting working on Wednesday [today] so we will definitely interact with the police and keep them abreast of our efforts and concerns,” he said, adding that the CPLC enjoyed a dedicated team as compared to the police and was able to investigate such case with concentration.
Meanwhile, a statement from the Edhi Foundation said that three further bodies of the October 18 bombings were identified on Tuesday and were handed over from the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth. The family members of Qadir Baloch from Mand, Balochistan, Ashraf from Hyderabad and Irshad of Karachi made positive identifications and took away the remains for funerals.
“We now have some five bodies left at the morgue,” said Rizwan Edhi. “There are also parts of about 16 different bodies which cannot be identified, so we’re mainly concerned about the relatives of those five bodies left.”
KARACHI, Oct 23: While the police on Tuesday claimed to have made some progress on investigations into last week’s twin bombings that targeted the Pakistan People’s Party rally, the PPP itself set up a special cell to probe the incident, a move that casts serious doubts over the party leadership’s confidence in the police department.
