KARACHI: ‘First Oct 18 blast wasn’t suicide attack’
By S. Raza Hassan & Imran Ayub
KARACHI, Oct 25: The bomb disposal unit of the Karachi police has concluded that the second attack on the Oct 18 motorcade of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was a suicide bombing.
The conclusion is contained in a report submitted by the bomb disposal unit on Thursday to the Additional Inspector-General Special Branch, Babar Khattak.
The report describes the first bomb as an IED or improvised explosive device.
The report says that around 12kg of plastic explosive and RDX was used in the second bombing along with hundreds of pellets, which caused many instant deaths.
Referring to the first blast, the report says that around 200gm of dynamite was used in the IED.
The report was submitted by the special branch official to Provincial Police Officer Major (Retd) Ziaul Hasan Khan.
Around 140 people died and hundreds of others were wounded when the twin bomb attacks aimed at Ms Bhutto’s specially designed vehicle took place a little after midnight on Oct 18. The former prime minister survived the attack but hundreds of her workers and supporters died in the attacks.
The report comes at a time when a controversy is raging over whether the twin bomb blasts were suicide attacks or caused by devices planted in a vehicle.
So far the submission of the bomb disposal unit’s report is the first significant sign of progress in the ongoing investigation.
Judicial probe in the offing
The provincial government is likely to set up a judicial commission on Friday for an independent inquiry into the Oct 18 blasts. The commission may include retired judges.
A senior official said on Thursday that including retired judges was one of the options for the judicial inquiry into the incident that the government was considering. Also, he added, a commission under a Sindh High Court judge could not be ruled out.
“Actually, the Sindh governor approached the chief justice of the SHC, who said judges could not be spared for the inquiry because of the work pressure on the court. But the option has not yet been discarded,” Sindh Home Secretary Brigadier (retd) Ghulam Mohammed Mohtarem told Dawn.
“So we have both options available now. We expect a final decision in this regard tomorrow (Friday),” he said.
PPP waits for govt response
The Pakistan People’s Party leadership is determined to lodge a separate FIR on behalf of its chairperson Benazir Bhutto against the bomb attack on her life, but it has been waiting for a positive response from the government.
A party leader said the PPP was firm in its stand that the FIR, which was lodged on behalf of the state a few hours after the incident, did not stand valid as it did not take the aggrieved party’s account.
“We have learned through different sources that both the federal and provincial governments have allowed a separate FIR but have not been informed formally by the police officials,” said PPP Sindh President Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
“We are keenly waiting for such information and would definitely register a separate FIR. We have already submitted the chairperson’s letter to the SHO Bahadurabad, which is actually an application for our FIR,” he said.
He claimed that it was the responsibility of the Karachi police to inform the party leadership if there was such a development, as the PPP was interacting with the police on the subject.
Scotland Yard
In-charge of the PPP London’s media cell Habib Jan on Thursday demanded the government engage Scotland Yard in the investigations into the Oct 18 blasts.
In a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, Mr Jan said the number of deaths and injured was far more than what was officially declared by the government.
He criticized the Sindh government for not establishing an official helpline to help the families of the victims and those who went missing since the tragic incident took place last week.
“The government is callous in fulfilling its responsibility. We request the media to take on this responsibility of informing the affected families about their loved ones who have gone missing,” said Mr Jan.
He also asked the families of the dead and the survivors to contact the PPP helpline on phone No. 021-2007415 and get their killed or injured relatives registered.
