January 24, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 14, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 23: An official of the Bomb Disposal Squad told an inquiry tribunal investigating the Oct 18 Karsaz carnage on Wednesday that the blasts were carried out by two suicide bombers, who blew themselves up one by one, and no incident of firing took place at the crime scene.

The head of the BDS team, Inspector Mohammad Iqbal, deposed before the tribunal headed by Justice (retd) Dr Ghaus Mohammad that he did not see any crater at the site of the twin blasts, where he had reached within 15 minutes of the second blast.

On the fateful day, Inspector Iqbal was heading a BDS team that was moving ahead of the procession to comb the route from Terminal 1 to the Mazar-i-Quaid and then the Bilawal House. Another BDS team was also deputed at the rear of the procession.

He said there were pellet marks on some damaged vehicles. The tribunal inquired of him about the nature of the pellets, to which the inspector said such pellets were used in bomb making and mixed with explosive material.

Referring to some media reports the tribunal asked him whether any incident of firing took place before or after the blasts. The witness said he did not see any sign of firing at the blast sites.

He said the two suicide bombers were carrying explosives on their bodies and there was a great possibility that they exploded themselves. The tribunal asked whether a bomb attached to a human could be exploded with a remote-control device, to which the inspector replied that it was possible that the bomb could be exploded with a remote-control device.

“What was the distance between the [sites of] first and second blasts?” asked Dr Ghaus, upon which Inspector Iqbal said the distance between the bombers was about 24 feet and between the second bomber and the float carrying former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was about 12 feet.

The witness told the tribunal that it was possible that both the bombers could have caused damage from that distance, but the float was bullet-proof. Therefore, only its windscreen and a left window were damaged and two front wheels deflated. “I saw that pellets could not pierce the float and a bullet-proof glass rostrum made for Ms Bhutto’s security while she was on the float] was not damaged. One pellet hit it from the front and three from the left.”

The inspector replied in the affirmative when the tribunal asked him whether the blasts could harm Ms Bhutto if she had been on the top of the float because she was not inside the bullet-proof rostrum.

The triggering system

Inspector Iqbal said he saw staff of the Special Investigation Group (SIG) securing and preserving the strikers’ sleeves or triggering system from the spot.

“What is the significance of the striker’s sleeves?” asked the tribunal, to which the witness explained that it was a mechanism through which suicide bombers detonated explosive materials strapped to their bodies.

The tribunal asked whether the bomb disposal squad had any equipment which could indicate the presence of a person carrying explosive material. “Do you possess sniffer dogs?” the tribunal asked, upon which the inspector replied that the special branch’s BDS did not have sniffer dogs, but he could not say as to why this facility was not acquired for combing the procession route.

“You were in the advance team to comb the route ahead of the procession. Did you inform anyone that the route has been cleared?” Justice (retd) Dr Ghaus asked, to which he conceded that he did not inform anyone that the route had been cleared. However, he maintained that his team was concentrating only on the route to check whether any suspicious bag etc was lying on the road.

At the outset, the witness testified before the tribunal that he was assigned the task of combing the float, Mehran Lounge, the apron area and other facilities at Terminal 1 on Oct 18 before Ms Bhutto’s arrival.

He said he had checked the float and six VIP vehicles and gave a clearance certificate to DSP Jam Saifullah Dharejo and PPP leader Agha Siraj Durrani.

He also confirmed that about 300 PPP volunteers had accompanied the float at Terminal 1 and they were not checked. “Don’t you think these volunteers should also be checked?” asked the tribunal, to which the inspector agreed that from the security point of view all volunteers should have been checked.

He said the bomb disposal squad used explosive detectors, metal detectors, tool kits, bomb blankets, prodders, etc. He said about 40 persons had got training as bomb disposal experts.

Inspector Iqbal said DSP Fathe Mohammad and SSP Shahab Mazhar Bhalli were not trained as bomb disposal experts.

Sub-inspector Mumtaz Hussain of the Special Branch also testified before the tribunal. He said a private cameraman was hired for filming various segments on Oct 18. He informed the tribunal that he assisted the cameraman at the airport and the route of the procession while capturing scenes of checking of the float etc.The SI said that during the float’s checking he saw about 300 PPP volunteers and 2,500 people present at Terminal 1.

After examining his statement, the tribunal adjourned its proceeding for Thursday.