Two policemen were martyred while two others were critically injured in a grenade explosion inside the police headquarters located in Karachi’s Garden area on Wednesday.

The two dead policemen were later identified as Shehzad Khan, 23, and Mohammad Sabir, 51.

Senior Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) official Raja Umer Khattab, who visited the site of the incident, told Dawn that the explosion took place outside the armoury in-charge’s office, where arms are stored and handed out to officials on duty.

He said that one of the deceased officials was carrying the hand grenade when it exploded. He identified the deceased as Shahzad and Sabir, and the injured as police inspector Saeed — the armoury in-charge — and constable Ali Gohar.

Khattab said another grenade “miraculously” did not explode. The CTD officer said it appeared to be a case of “mishandling” rather than a terror incident.

South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sharjeel Kharal also termed the incident to be an accident. He said the grenade was a part of case property and policemen had brought it out to defuse it when it exploded.

Kharal said the condition of the two injured policemen was critical.

Meanwhile, Karachi police spokesperson Shazia Jehan said city police chief Javed Odho had taken notice of the incident and ordered an inquiry to ascertain the circumstances which led to the explosion.

BDS confirms blast due to ‘mishandling’

Later, BDS experts in their report said that during their investigation, they found a Russian-made RGD-1 grenade, which exploded due to “mishandling” by police officials.

One hand grenade lever was in a badly damaged condition and grenade shrapnel was recovered from the scene. Another grenade in “misfire/dangerous condition” was also recovered, which was made safe by the bomb disposal unit, according to contents of the report reviewed by Dawn.com.

Autopsy

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that the two victims were dead on arrival at Civil Hospital Karachi. She confirmed they suffered blast injuries to their vital organs.

Dr Syed said that injured sub-inspector Saeed Ahmed, 56, sustained multiple penetrating injuries to the face, chest, abdomen, right upper limb and left lower limb while the constable Ali Gohar, 45, sustained multiple lacerations and penetrating injuries to the upper half of his body, including face. Their condition were said to be stable.

Funeral prayers

The funeral prayers of the two martyred policemen were held at police headquarters in Garden in the evening, which was attended by provincial minister Saeed Ghani, IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon, and other senior police officers. The IG expressed his condolences with the heirs and promised every possible assistance to them.