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LAHORE, Dec 24: A stolen official vehicle which was parked by unidentified people with a bomb planted in it and which later blew up with a time device, entered the Government Officer Residences (GOR-II) without any security check at its three entrances, Dawn learned after visiting the crime scene.
Not even single security personnel was found deputed at any of the three entry points of the colony near Mozang Chungi, commonly known as Bahawalpur House, which houses senior government officers, including police officers.
The room meant for security guards or gatekeepers at Gate No I on Ferozepur Road was found closed and some constables led by a sub-inspector (SI) were seen opening it after the incident apparently on the directives of their seniors.
“This is indeed a security lapse as managers of the GOR-II have not deployed watchmen at main gates,” the SI later told Dawn.
Syed Kashif Raza, a resident of the colony, complained that gates of the GOR-II were open to everyone and constables of the local police station hardly visited the colony.
UNATTENDED VEHICLE: The police remained clueless as to why an unattended vehicle was parked on the GOR premises and this indeed led to many speculations.
A police official confided to Dawn that the parking of explosives-laden vehicle in the GOR-II raised doubts about targeting of any of the top bureaucrats living there or the use of the vehicle was to hit the VVIPs like the prime minister, particularly when he was around.
He said Punjab Investigation DIG Javed Shah, who is allegedly on the hit list of banned outfits, Sipah-i-Sahaba and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, could be a possible target.
“The DIG passes through the same road regularly where the vehicle was parked and on the day of the incident he had to reach the Central Police Office by using the same route,” he said.
Similarly, he said, the police were also examining the possibility that the time device went off prematurely and terrorists wanted to shift the vehicle to another city location for the sabotage activity.
He said the police had also launched interrogation within the locality if the people, who parked the vehicle there, might belong to the same locality.
Additional IG Chaudhry Sajad Ahmed and additional secretary to the chief minister also lived near the blast site.
Dawn learned through locals that Chief Secretary Javed Mehmood was also due in B-Block in the morning.
INTENSITY: The powerful blast rocked the whole GOR-II and nearby localities, locals said.
Muhammad Amjad, who lived in the same locality, said he was asleep at the time of explosion but woke up with powerful impact of the blast.
“I immediately rushed to Royal Balsam School and brought my daughter back,” he added.
ORDEAL OF VICITM FAMILY: The woman, Farzana Bibi, who lost her life in the blast, had come to Lahore from Sialkot along with three children to receive her husband Sanawar Masih returning from Dubai at the airport ahead of Christmas, a Rescue-1122 official told Dawn.
He said the family had made a stopover at GOR-II to see a relative in adjacent Begum Bagh locality and were waiting for Asif Masih, a Rescue-1122 official and brother of Sanawar, in the park at the time of the incident.
Asif had taken leave from the office and had reached the park but survived the blast.
Syed Atif Raza, who rushed to the spot soon after the spot, told Dawn that he lifted the critically injured woman in his arms and took her to a nearby health facility where she was pronounced dead.
