KARACHI: Three persons, including a suspected attacker, were killed in a grenade explosion in Haji Leemu Goth in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Wednesday evening, police said.

SSP-East Irfan Bahadur told Dawn that the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Farooq Mirani, was carrying a grenade that exploded in his hand near a shop, killing him, an infant boy and a 16-year-old girl.

However, the police were unaware of the motive and said they were investigating the case from all possible angles.

Mobina Town SHO Abdul Sattar Magsi told Dawn that suspect Mirani, son of Sub-Inspector Abdul Rehman Mirani, died on the spot. Five injured persons were shifted to a nearby private hospital where one-year-old Rehan and teenaged Nasreen died during treatment, he added.

DIG-East Azfar Mahesar told the media that the suspect was carrying the grenade when some children in the area spotted it and raised alarm. He said that the suspect tried to hide the grenade and in the process it exploded.

Counter-terrorism official Raja Umer Khattab told Dawn that the suspect was recently arrested for his alleged involvement in stealing a motorbike and possessing an unlicensed pistol.

He said that investigators came to know that the suspect’s father had kept ‘case property’ in his home. “We are probing as to whether the grenade was part of some case property or someone else provided it to the suspect,” he added.

The CTD official Khattab believed that the suspect might have ‘radicalised’ in prison.

However, he said that the grenade exploded due to “mishandling” near his residence. He said it seemed that his actual target was at someplace else as there was no polling station or any “sensitive” installation near the spot.

Investigators also carried out a raid on his residence and searched the place.

Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that the bodies of infant boy and teenage girl were brought to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. She said Noor Mohammed, 27, suffered injuries and was currently under treatment.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2024