RAWALPINDI: Three people, a policeman among them, were killed and 15 others injured in a suicide attack on an Imambargah in the heavily guarded Gracy Lane area here on Tuesday night.

According to police and witnesses, the bomber blew himself up when he was stopped for search at the entrance of Imambargah Asna Ashari near the Nur Khan Airbase. About 700 people were attending a majlis at the time of the attack.

The blast was heard far away. Police and military personnel cordoned off the area and all roads leading to Gracy Lane were closed to traffic.

Khalid Mehmood, the driver of a police van who was on duty at the Imambagah, said a man parked his motorcycle by the roadside and started walking towards the Imambargah. When Sub-Inspector Amanat Ali and other policemen asked him to stop for search, he detonated the bomb.

The dead and the injured were taken to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital.

Those killed were identified as Sub-Inspector Amanat Ali, Ghulam Shabbir and Wasim Zaidi. Among the injured were five policemen – SHO Airport Rub Nawaz and constables Ghulam Abbas, Ijaz Ahmed, Javaid Shah and Manazir Hussain.

City Police Officer Akhtar Umar Lalika told Dawn that it was a suicide attack. The bomber blew himself up when he was intercepted by policemen outside the Imambargah.

Several bikes and cars parked outside the Imambargah were damaged.

According to bomb disposal experts, four to five pounds of high explosives, laced with ball-bearings, were used in the attack.

The head and legs were believed to be of the bomber. Black clothes and a green jacket were retrieved from the scene.

A damaged pistol, wooden butt of a rifle and four spent bullet casings were also found. However, it could not be ascertained whether the pistol belonged to the suicide bomber or police.