LAHORE: The Punjab government has constituted a five-member joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the ghastly Ferozepur Road bombing.

At least 26 people, nine policemen among them, were killed and 54 others injured in a suicide bomb near Arfa Karim IT Tower on Ferozepur Road on Monday. A police reserve was deployed at the main gate of the old fruit market for an anti-encroachment drive initiated by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA).

The blast took place a few hundred yards off the Model Town residence of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

On Tuesday evening, the Punjab Home Department invoked Section 19(I) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 to constitute a JIT to “probe and finalise investigation” in the bombing case.

According to the notification shared with Dawn, the JIT is headed by Counter Terrorism Department Senior Superintendent of Police Muhammad Iqbal (convener) and other members are representatives of the Inter Services Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau, the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) and the CTD Lahore Investigation Officer.

A member of the JIT told Dawn that initial investigation revealed that the terrorists had used the same explosive material which was used in the Mall Road incident. He said the suicide attacker and his facilitator came from Kasur by a motorcycle. The facilitator had dropped the attacker near Arfa Kareem IT Tower and accelerated towards Kalma Chowk, he said.

He said the suicide attacker went back to the spot where a number of policemen and labourers were sitting under the shade of tree on foot and blew himself up. He said they were trying to establish the identity of the facilitator to break their network operating in the city.

He said the material and evidence were collected from the crime scene and sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) for examination (a report is awaited). He said they had also collected body parts of the suicide attacker and were trying to establish his identity after carrying out DNA test.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2017