PESHAWAR, Jan 20: Four policemen were injured when a time bomb exploded on the Ring Road at Jamil Chowk in the Phando police area here on Tuesday morning.

The van they were travelling in was damaged. News agency APP, however, reported that a civilian was also injured in the explosion.

A police official told Dawn that the device had been planted in a place dug up for laying a Sui gas pipeline. He said the personnel had been assigned to cordon off the area and when they reached the Jamil Chowk the device went off.

City Circle SP Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf, when contacted, told Dawn that it seemed to be the act of an organised gang of terrorists who had been targeting CD centres and internet cafes.

A bomb disposal squad official said the explosive weighed about one kilogramme, which had been placed close to a newly-laid gas pipeline, adding that pieces of the damaged pipeline had also hit the personnel. A case against unidentified people was registered at the Phando police station.

Meanwhile, a time bomb went off inside a shop in the Adezai area near the Indus Highway, destroying the shop. Police said the shop was owned by Adezai Union Council Nazim Abdul Malik.

The nazim, when contacted, told Dawn that the explosive had been planted by militants because he was against them, adding they had also blown up houses of his relatives.

CHILDREN INJURED: The wall of a private school, Ittehad Public School, fell here on Monday morning, injuring 24 students.