Customs Intelligence office gutted in ‘arson’ attack
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QUETTA: The office of the Customs Intelligence in the provincial capital was gutted with all the official records and equipment in it after a fire broke out there, which is said to have been preceded by an explosion in the Chaman Housing Scheme, police said.
Pakistan Customs officials said on Monday the incident took place late on Sunday night.
They claimed Quetta Customs Intelligence had arrested some smugglers a few days ago and impounded their smuggled goods
They said that a group of influential people linked with the smugglers was putting pressure on Customs officials and hurling threats to secure their release, but Customs officials had refused to do so.
On Sunday night, they claimed, a group of armed men came to the office of the Customs Intelligence and, after beating and overpowering the guards, they entered the office, ransacked its and broke CCTV cameras. Before fleeing, they took with them the CCTV cameras and other equipment. Soon after their departure, an explosion took place at the main office, triggering a fire that later engulfed the entire office, they said.
Customs officials and police rushed to the area soon after receiving information about the incident and called fire tenders to extinguish the blaze.
The fire brigade brought the fire under control after some time, but by that time all important record of the Customs office had been gutted.
A senior Customs official said the armed men injured the security guard and threw some petrol before leaving the office which later caught fire with a blast. He said that Customs Intelligence had recently launched a massive campaign against smuggling of goods in border areas of the province and during that drive a group of smugglers had been arrested.
SSP Operations Quetta Abdul Haq Umrani said that no evidence of a blast had been found in the Customs office. He, however, said there might have been a small explosion caused by the fire.
“We are investigating the incident,” he said, adding that the security guards would also be questioned.
Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2022
