Police on Sunday launched an investigation into a blast that occurred during a Milad gathering organised by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) at a residential complex in Block-17 of Karachi's Gulistan-i-Jauhar area the previous night.

Eight people, including a woman and a minor boy, sustained injuries in the incident. The condition of two of them was stated to be serious.

A senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, told Dawn that police suspected "internal rifts" between different factions of the MQM to be a possible motive behind the attack.

The officer said the incident had assumed significance on account of two reasons: First, the party’s senior leadership was present at the event; second, the explosion occurred a day ahead of the party’s ‘martyrs’ day’.

300 grams explosives used

A team of Bomb Disposal Unit of the police’s Special Branch examined the crime scene and submitted their report.

Quoting the bomb experts' report, SSP East Azfar Mahesar said a bomb weighing 250 to 300 grams exploded outside the tent where the gathering was taking place, near City Bakery.

Investigators collected "plastic body pieces, pieces of rock, swabs and sand" from the site of the blast.

DIG East Amir Farooqi told Dawn that they understood it to be a 'cracker blast' as the bomb did not contain ball bearings, nuts, bolts, etc.

Additionally, it was most probably thrown by bike-riding suspects near the tent.

The senior officer said although the incident took place at night, investigators were trying to obtain CCTV footage from the area to help identify the suspects.

'Different angles'

Inspector General of Police Sindh Dr Syed Kaleem Imam on Sunday visited the crime scene in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, where DIG Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Abdullah Shaikh and DIG East Amir Farooqi briefed him about the incident.

Later talking to reports, the Sindh police chief said the police were investigating the blast from different angles. Firstly, the blast could have been an outcome of "internal issues", he said.

Secondly, it may have been a move to create fear and chaos in the area. And lastly, he said, there were "a number of groups" in the city who may have wanted to spoil the peaceful atmosphere in the metropolis.

"No angle can be ruled out at this stage," he stressed.

The IGP added that the investigators have "some leads" on the incident and they were working on them.

Meanwhile, Sharea Faisal Station House Officer Safdar Mashwani said the eight persons who were injured in the blast had been shifted to different hospitals for treatment.

They were identified as Shaharyar, 25; Faizan, 32; Babar, 40; Azhar, 32; Samina Khatoon, 49; Shan Azeem, 7; Hassan and Shahzad.

An MQM-P spokesperson said Shaharyar, who was critically injured, is a member of their party's media wing.

Two of the injured, Faizan and Shahzad, were brought to the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre and they were discharged after being administered first aid, according to Dr Seemin Jamali, the hospital's executive director.

The duo had sustained wounds on their knees, hands and backs, Dr Jamali added.

‘No permission’

SSP Mahesar said the Milad gathering had been organised by a person named Adnan but without seeking "any permission" and the local police had not been informed about it in advance.

However, MQM-P leader Iqbal Mohammed Ali told reporters that they had submitted an application to the deputy commissioner East for holding the event.