TWO policemen dead, two others injured, all because someone acted irresponsibly and tinkered with a rusty grenade. A police inquiry into the Aug 3 blast outside Police Headquarters Garden in Karachi has concluded that a series of serious procedural lapses led to the fatal incident while regretting the “sordid picture” it uncovered of the mismanagement of custody, inventory and handling of dangerous weapons at the Fire Arms Bureau’s malkhana inside the Garden headquarters. Perhaps the most concerning bit of the report is that the exploded grenade — one of two Russian-made grenades found at the scene of the incident — had never been on the police’s books and, according to the head constable of the Fire Arms Bureau, was not the only dangerous weapon that had been stored without any official record. According to statements collected during the course of the inquiry, the Russian grenades may have been decades old when they were found, which was likely why they were in poor physical condition when they were handed over to the armoury. Their defective condition had made them much more dangerous, and careless handling ultimately resulted in a preventable tragedy.

While human error is undoubtedly to blame for most of what transpired, it is also worth asking why the police have been stocking dangerous weapons which are in poor condition. According to the Bomb Disposal Squad, there were 68 other grenades and 266 mortar shells found in the armoury after the incident, which were in “rusted and dangerous condition” and were therefore recommended for immediate demolition. These would have presented a major safety risk to police personnel who work in or around the armoury, as this accident clearly shows. The tragedy could have been much larger had one of the bad grenades accidentally gone off inside the armoury. Clearly, the Sindh police force needs to stop taking the storage of dangerous materials so lightly. It also needs to be better trained and better equipped so that such tragedies can be avoided in the future.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2022