DERA GHAZI KHAN, Feb 6: The repair work on the damaged Dhodak gas pipeline, which was blown up on Saturday night near Mangrotha (about 90 kilometres from here) allegedly by some saboteurs, was completed late Sunday night.

Gas supply to the affected Dera Ghazi Khan, Taunsa Sharif and Kot Adu tehsils was restored.

Earlier, gas was supplied to Dera Ghazi Khan and Kot Adu Power Plant through another channel originating from Sui in Balochistan.

A gas pipeline originating from the Dhodak gas and oil field was blown up near Mangrotha (which is five kilometres off Taunsa Sharif). It is considered to be an ancient human settlement and was once a capital of Sanghar state.

While intelligence agencies are claiming that the blast took place due to high gas pressure and leakage in the pipe, police believe that it was an act of saboteurs.

The police sources quoted the bomb disposal squad as pointing out that the explosive device might be made of aluminium or plastic, as there was no evidence of it at the troubled spot.

It is worth mentioning that this was the third sabotage activity during the last week. In the earlier acts, railway tracks were blown up on Dera-Jacobabad section near Basti Darwaish Lashari railway station and Kot Cchuta railway station on Jan 30 and Feb 3, respectively.

According to the locals, the door of fences around the valve where the blast occurred has been without lock for long.

At the time of blast, around 350 PSI (pound square inch) gas was flowing in the pipe, which had the capacity of having 1,100 PSI gas flow, an engineer working on the pipeline told this correspondent.

It is learnt that the Balochistan Liberation Army has accepted the responsibility of the blast through a telephonic call to a local journalist of an Urdu daily.

The administrations of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur have taken measures to ensure security at sensitive installation. A radar near Rojhan Chowk, Fatehpur air base in Rajanpur, atomic energy commission installation, Dhodak oil field, Rodo gas field (where at least 23 Chinese are working in tribal area in Dera Ghazi Khan) and several communication towers in both the districts have been manned. Ghazi Ghat and Taunsa barrage also have special security.