March 27, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429

LAHORE, March 26: The death of the owner of the mini-truck used in the Federal Investigation Agency’s headquarters bombing in Lahore on March 11, in police custody has left the investigators ‘virtually trapped in a blind alley’.

A senior police officer told Dawn that Muhammad Afzal had already been ‘interrogated’ by the law-enforcement agencies involved in the investigation process. “Since the investigators could not extract any information from the accused which could lead them to the ‘real culprits’ they handed him over to a local police station to meet the formalities,” he said and further maintained that according to investigators Afzal was a ‘dead end’.

The officer, however, could not explain that if ‘nothing’ was established against the victim then why he was not set at liberty.

A source said the investigators had handed Afzal over to police with a hope that they could make him divulge some useful piece of information by using their ‘traditional methods’. “And the local police used its typical third degree methods to extract information they were looking for from the accused who could not sustain the pressure because it was his first experience and eventually died in custody.”

Though the police as usual says no ‘foul play’ was involved, it is hoped the medical board constituted to examine Afzal’s body will determine the veracity of the claim.

The source said since the investigators had been facing difficulties in getting a ‘breakthrough’ in the case they were reluctant to let go ‘the vital clue’.

The source said the investigators were keen to get information from Afzal as the mini-truck used in the FIA blast was originally a yellow cab converted into a loader. As Afzal could not give a satisfactory answer about the identity of the person whom he had sold the vehicle, the investigators were not willing to release him, he added.

A foot of the suicide-bomber found several meters away from the blast site has been sent for DNA test and the result is likely to be received in a couple of days. The investigators have yet to get the forensic reports.