KARACHI, Aug 7: Two employees of a car rental service were killed and two others wounded when an explosive device went off in Defence Housing Authority, Phase-II Extension, on Saturday morning.

Police said Mohammad Nazeer was cleaning a Toyota Corolla (AGH-090) and Rehmat was standing by it when the device lying near the vehicle outside the rental service, Rehmat Tours, exploded. Nazeer died on the spot and Rehmat succumbed to wounds in the shop after awhile, police said.

Munawar and Mohammad Aman, son of Haji Akram, who is owner of Rehmat Tours, were injured. Hospital sources described Munawar's condition as serious.

SSP Investigation Manzoor Mughal told Dawn that Naeem Baba, accountant at Rehmat Tours, had returned to the shop in the same Corolla after dropping the owner at his F.B. Area residence before the blast.

Some 19 vehicles, parked outside the shop, and fixtures of the building that houses Rehmat Tours were damaged, police said.

Investigators said the device weighing 1-2kg was locally made and was fitted with a half-an-hour timer. The bomb had a magnet attached to it, they added. The explosion left a one-and-a-half feet deep and two feet wide crater on the ground.

Initial investigation showed that the blast was the result of a rivalry between some gangs, sources in the police department said, adding that the car rental service was financed by an underworld figure. Haji Akram is the front man.

A few months back, a man posing as an ISI major was arrested at Rehmat Tours on the complaint of Haji Akram. The phony major accused the owner of having links with jihadis. Subsequently, an FIR was registered against him, police sources said.