PESHAWAR, May 23: Investigative agencies have failed to find any clue to perpetrators of recent bomb blasts in the city, sources said. Citing lack of scientific tools and personnel at their disposals, a police official said 18 bomb blasts had occurred in different parts of the city during the past eight months, but those behind the explosions were yet to be brought to book.

The government usually announces compensation for victims soon after a blast, forms teams to investigate the incident and beefs up security for a couple of days, but things return to normal soon and no clue is found to the culprits.

On Sept 18 last year, a blast inside a car parking lot near the West Cantonment police station damaged 20 vehicles. Ten days later, a gas pipeline was blown up at the PAF chowk, disrupting gas supply to many localities. On Oct 15, a blast occurred at the Lady Reading Hospital’s car parking. There was no casualty.

After a week, a bomb explosion near the Daewoo bus stand injured one person. Another blast near the Jinnah Park on Oct 20 minutes before Iftar killed eight and wounded 16. A suicide bomber struck near Pishtakhara targeting a police van on Nov 17, injuring two cops. Another person lost his life in a blast at Defence Park on Dec 1. Another bomb went off near the Peshawar airport on Dec 26, killing one person and injuring three others.

A devastating blast occurred on Jan 27 which killed 15 people, including city police chief Malik Saad, DSP Khan Raziq Khan and two nazims. Several cars were damaged in an explosion at the parking lot of the ICRC in University Town on Feb 8.

A bomb blast near Gulshan Rehman Colony on March 18 damaged several music shops. A blast near the Greens Hotel in the Peshawar Cantonment injured ANP leader Syed Aqil Shah and three others. No loss of life was reported in a blast occurred two days later at the ICRC office near the Sufaid Dheri locality.

On April 5, a blast damaged the wall of the Women’s Degree College in Hashtnagri. The next day, a blast occurred at the general bus stand. On April 28, another blast was reported at the canteen of the Peshawar airport.

The latest in the series of blasts occurred on May 15 at a hotel on the Naz Cinema Road , killing 22 people and injuring 30 others.

The police official told Dawn that in the wake of the blasts, several teams, including eight joint investigation teams, had been constituted, but without any output.

When asked why investigations into bomb blasts in the city had failed to find a lead to the culprits, a senior police officer said they had prepared reports with regard to some blasts, but these could not be made public at the moment.

A forensic expert said the government as well as police were in the habit of putting the blame for any explosion on Afghanistan, but there was no scientific evidence to substantiate the claim.

He said that after every suicide bombing, police said DNA tests would be conducted on the body of the suspected bomber, but it would not help. According to him, DNA was useful when DNA profiles of the entire population were available. “But, we have no DNA profiles.”