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KARACHI, Jan 15: While the authorities failed to make any major breakthrough in the investigations, the death toll of the bomb blast in Landhi’s town Quaidabad area rose to 10 on Tuesday when 18-year-old Jalilullah, son of Jameeluddin, died at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
Funeral prayers were held on Tuesday morning for two of the bombing victims, Ashraf Ali (13) and Sulaiman (65), who were later laid to rest at the Sherpao graveyard. Meanwhile, the remains of seven victims — Asad Ali (13), Irfan (22), Zahir Shah (28), Mohammed Asfar (30), Bakhat Zaman (35) and Mumtaz Ali (40) — were sent to the NWFP to their native towns of Swat and Swabi. The body of nine-year-old Umair is being kept at the Edhi morgue and he will be buried on Wednesday (today), said the police. The body of Jalilullah, who died on Tuesday, was sent to Quetta.
Statistics compiled by the police showed that other than Omair, who belonged to Faisalabad, and Jalilullah who was from Quetta, the rest of the victims belonged to the NWFP.
To aid in the investigations, the police have collected the remains of the motorcycle in which the explosive device had been planted. “Hundreds of local residents gathered at the crime scene and helped the police collect the small pieces and fragments of the motorcycle,” SP Landhi Azad Khan told Dawn. The police elicited the help of motorcycle mechanics who sorted through the parts and identified their placing in the vehicle. Small ball-bearings and one-inch nails used in the explosive device have also been collected from the crime scene.
Eyewitnesses sought
Talking about the blast, an investigator said that the motorcycle had been parked between two carts and the death toll could have been much higher if the carts had not provided some containment for the explosion. The vehicle was of the Super Power make.
Tracing the ownership of the motorcycle is proving difficult since it appears that it bore no registration plate at the time of the explosion. Meanwhile, only a digit or two of the chassis and engine numbers have been found on the remnant parts of the two-wheeler.
The impact of the blast suggests that the explosive device was planted on the left side of the motorcycle in the recess meant for the battery, since shrapnel penetrated the fuel tank from the lower left side, said investigators.
The victims also suffered serious injuries in the lower parts of their bodies.
“We are looking for eyewitnesses who could help us in the preparation of a sketch of the perpetrator who parked the motorcycle at the scene,” said the police.
Similarly, assistance has been sought from the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) in terms of data concerning stolen or snatched Super Power motorcycles.
The police have registered an FIR 15/08 under sections 302/324/427/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 3/4 of the Explosives Act on behalf of the state at the Quaidabad police station.
The people of the area complained ambulances had been unable to reach the spot on time because of dug-up roads, and the dead and the wounded had to be taken to the nearby Social Security hospital in private vehicles.
