KARACHI, July 8: Seven different cases were registered against unknown culprits for Monday’s series of bomb blasts, which the investigators believed were aimed at spreading ethnic strife in the city.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Wasim Ahmed told Dawn that some people had been taken into custody for questioning to get a lead to the culprits.

“The whole plan was masterminded and executed with a certain design to create a rift between ethnic groups in the city,” he added.

He said the blasts occurred in a radius of three kilometres and the culprits selected the sites stretching between the Muhajir and Pakthun localities. “The blasts were aimed at pitching the communities against each other,” he added.

He said a high-level team headed by DIG CID Saud Mirza had started investigations into the blasts. “The team is collecting evidence,” he added.

Meanwhile, Pirabad police registered a case (FIR No 182/08) against unknown terrorists on the complaint of Sartaj, one of the three injured, under Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Act.

Orangi Town police registered two cases (191/08 and 192/08) for the two blasts that left 11 people wounded.

Shahrah-i-Noorjahan police registered two cases (170/08 and 171/08) on the complaints of Lal Mohammed and Sultan, who were among eight injured in the blasts.

Similarly, Pak Colony police registered two cases (104/08 and 105/08) on the complaint of injured Mohammed Aleem and Shah Zaman. As many as 14 people were wounded in these two blasts.

Sources privy to the investigation told Dawn that intelligence agencies were also assisting the police investigation team, comprising DIG Investigation Ghulam Qadir Thebo, DIG West Aleem Jafferi, and AVCU chief SSP Farooq Awan.

They said the culprits masterminded the whole plan very carefully as they did not leave any clue behind them.

Three out of the seven bombs were planted in a Shahzore truck, a car and a motorcycle, and the remaining four were hurled by the culprits who were on three to four motorcycles, sources said.

They said the police investigation so far had come to a dead end as the culprits had used a stolen car and tampered with the engine and chassis numbers of the motorcycle they used in the bombing.

Sources said the sketch of a culprit could have been prepared if the car was hijacked instead of being stolen.

The owner of the vehicle, identified as Ismail, parked his car outside a marriage hall in Gulberg. Sources said he found his car missing when he came out of the hall after attending a wedding party.

They said the culprits might have snatched the motorcycle at gunpoint from someone and tampered with its engine and chassis numbers so that the victim could not be located to give the police descriptions of the criminals.

There were some witnesses who had seen the motorcyclists lobbing explosive devices in different areas. But, the sources said, the culprits had hidden their faces under helmets.

They said that as such, no one had been able to see the face of any of the culprits.

However, sources observed, there were some witnesses who had seen a man leaving the site after parking a car fitted with a bomb. The sketch of the culprit was being prepared with the help of those who had seen him from a distance.

Sources said people also tried to catch two motorcyclists in Pak Colony when they lobbed an explosive device in the vicinity.

However, they added, the culprits sped away and no one was able to see their faces as they were both wearing helmets.