LARKANA: Two pylons carrying a 500kV high tension power transmission line were damaged by blasts near Abra Kumbhar village, some 10 kilomtres away from here, on Friday. Power supply to a vast area was suspended following the blasts.

Larkana SSP Sarfraz Nawaz said that the bomb disposal squad as well as forensic and technical staff of the police rushed to the pylons No. 526 and 527 along Bhai Khan link road to inspected the affected site and collected evidence.

Later, the explosives were described as locally made firecrackers.

National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) sub-divisional officer Asad Murtaza Awan lodged the FIR (No.10/22) of the incident at Rasheed Wagan police station under Sections 3/4 of the Explosive Act, 427 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). In his FIR, he stated that he was informed by operator of the company’s control room at the area’s grid station about suspension of power supply. The matter was conveyed to the NTDC resident engineer. Later, it emerged that two pylons, 526 and 527, carrying a 500kV transmission line were damaged with some local made firecrackers, he stated. The blast damaged one pylon’s three foundations and the other’s four foundations, he added.

The Larkana police immediately started a probe into the incident.

SSP Asif Raza Baloch and an ASP rushed to the spot and inspected the site along with the bomb disposal squad and collected evidence, they said.

Speaking to Dawn, the SSP share details of the incident and the evidence collected from the site. He said action would be taken in the light of the reports to be submitted by the security agencies concerned.

The SSP has already form­­ed teams to investigate the incident, according to the senior police’s PRO, who said no arrests had been made so far.

Meanwhile, in a statement sent to some media houses, a proscribed militant outfit calling itself the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2022