RAWALPINDI: Police investigating into the Monday suicide bomb attack near the general headquarters (GHQ) have not been given access to the footages of the close circuit television (CCTV) camera installed at the site.

A police officer close to the investigation confirmed that the copy of the CCTV recording of the blast had not been provided to them by the military authorities as the latter were also conducting their own investigation.

However, the CCTV footage of the attack was shown to the police for a few minutes. “Police watched the CCTV footage for only a few minutes. It carried an unclear view of the bomber. But its copy was not available with the police,” said the police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Zahir Shah, an Afghan scavenger, who was among the injured in the blast and being treated at the district headquarters hospital and later detained by the police, has been shifted to an undisclosed place by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), police sources said.

In the CCTV footage, the Afghan suspect was spotted roaming suspiciously in the R.A. Bazaar on his bicycle moments before the suicide bomber blew himself up near the GHQ.

A senior police official added that Zahir Shah was spotted in the CCTV footage carrying a large sack containing waste of fruits and vegetables on his bicycle.

“The investigators are sure that he was the man who reportedly facilitated the bomber. However, they could not get anything from him during the initial interrogation,” he added.

Besides Zahir Shah, three other persons have been detained by the investigating team. However, none of them has been charged by the police.

On the other hand, medical experts have reconstructed the face of the bomber and provided its photographs to the JIT.

“Only the upper part of the face of the bomber could be reconstructed as he had blown himself after bowing down - apparently to destroy his face,” said the senior police officer. He said the samples of skin, hair and nails of the bomber had also been sent to the laboratory for DNA test.