PESHAWAR: A blast outside the house of a lawmaker of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in Hazar Khwani area here on Sunday evening left his daughter injured, police said.

“I was the actual target,” MPA Haji Fazl Ilahi told Dawn by telephone and added that extortionists had been after him for the past about one month. He said that the bomb was planted in a motorbike, which was parked beside his house.

The bomb exploded with a loud bang, causing wounds to his daughter and damage to his bedroom. “I am out of home. I am on way to Peshawar from Islamabad,” the MPA said. He added that a portion of his house was damaged in the blast.

The lawmaker said that extortionists were demanding Rs10 million from him. “I rejected their demand and faced the reaction in the shape of the blast,” he said.

Another source said that the main gate of the residence of a trader identified as Haji Wali Mohammad was also damaged. However, he denied having received any threat from anyone.

A police official said that the blast also damaged a portion of the residence of Haji Wali Mohammad in the same vicinity, however, his family remained unhurt. He said that he could not share any unconfirmed information. “We are collecting evidence to ascertain as to who was the actual target,” the official said.

DSP Rokhan Zeb said that he had no information about threats to anyone. “I have no knowledge about demand of extortion from anyone. We are investigating the case and the findings would be shared with media,” the DSP said.

An official of bomb disposal unit said that it was a time bomb, which weighed about four kilograms. The explosives were packed in a canister, he added.

ROCKET ATTACK: A house was partially damaged in Hayatabad when a rocket, fired from unspecified location, hit it on Sunday.

A police official said that the house, located in Phase-II of Hayatabad, was damaged in the rocket attack but there was no report about loss of human life. He said that the house was empty at the time occurrence.

The official said that police did not have complete details but it seemed that the rocket was fired from the tribal area to create panic among the people.

Meanwhile, police foiled two sabotage attempts b y defusing two bombs in different areas of Peshawar.

According to an official, a five-kilogram improvised explosive device was planted at Jamander graveyard at Faqirabad village in the limits of Badbher police station, however, police defused it.

“Local informer informed us about the movement of some suspected people in the area. We called personnel of bomb disposal unit who successfully defused the explosive device,” he said.

Another bomb planted in agricultural fields in Peshtakhara was also defused by bomb disposal unit. AIG Shafqat Malik said that the bomb weighed about three kilograms.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2014