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KARACHI, June 19: The police have been examining the possibility of the involvement of a third vehicle in Friday’s car bomb blast near the US Consulate.
Talking to Dawn over telephone on Wednesday, the provincial police chief, Syed Kamal Shah, said: “As earlier, I said in a recent press conference that a 1981 Toyota Corolla was blown up into 46 pieces and a Suzuki Hi-roof into 40 pieces. However, we are examining all the fragments of the blown-up vehicles to ascertain the possibility of a third one.”
The Sindh IGP said that possibility of the involvement of a third vehicle in the powerful explosion on June 14, near the US Consulate, could not be ruled out. All the pieces of the blown-up vehicles were being examined to determine whether there were only two vehicles or a third one was also involved.
The police investigation teams were closely examining all the aspects, besides technical assistance provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he added.
About the analytical report being prepared by the American intelligence agency FBI to ascertain as to which car carried the explosives, Kamal Shah said: “No, we have not received any such report and it is still awaited.”
He said that investigation into the case was in progress and people, including the injured, were interviewed and their statements recorded.
However, sources said that a number of people had been picked up for interrogation and most of them were let off. Earlier, the city police investigators were of the opinion that a remote- controlled device was used to explode the bomb. It was believed that the bomb was planted in the Toyota Corolla car belonging to Khanum Motor Training School.
The sources claimed that surveillance cameras were installed at all sides of the US Consulate, which were fully operational at the time of the incident. The recorded scenes were shown to the FBI agents and the police, but they had still not reached any conclusion whether it was a suicide bombing or a remote- controlled bomb, and in which car it was planted.
The sources said that the scene of the Toyota Corolla and the Suzuki Hi-roof passing by with other cars running ahead and behind them was captured on tape.
The sources said that the FBI teams were also examining the possibility of a third vehicle in the blast as they were obsessed by suicide bombing. The FBI agents were of the opinion that the surveillance cameras could not capture the third vehicle, which might be carrying the explosives, the sources claimed.
The sources also said that the FBI agents, along with DSP Nazimabad, Aslam Khan, raided a place in Buffer Zone and arrested two suspects for their alleged connection with Al-Qaeda. They said two satellite mobile phone sets were also recovered from them. They were in the custody of the FBI and were being grilled.
The movement of vehicles on Abdullah Haroon Road from Hotel Metropole to Hoshang Chowk; Fatima Jinnah Road running from Avari Towers to Cantt Station; and Sharea Iran from Do- Talwar to Helipad Chowk in Clifton remained suspended for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a toll-free UAN number, 0800-786, has been established to solicit public information which may prove helpful in leading to the arrest of the perpetrators of the crime.
SHOS: Inspector-General Police, Sindh, Syed Kamal Shah, has directed the SHOs to further expand and strengthen the intelligence network in their respective areas, maintain a strict watch on suspects and collect complete details about foreigners living illegally in their areas, adds APP.
He told them to mend their attitude towards the people, ensure immediate registration of FIRs and effectively control the incidence of snatching of vehicles, dacoities, robberies and sabotage.
He was addressing all the city SHOs, SDPOs and Town Police Officers at the Police Driving Branch Auditorium here on Wednesday.
The Police Chief warned the SHOs that in future serious notice would be taken of the cases of terrorism or sabotage, snatching of vehicles, dacoities and robberies taking place in the jurisdiction of their police stations.
“Stern action will be taken against SHOs and DSPs in case of any incident of terrorism, dacoity, robbery and subversion and they will be held accountable”, the IGP said.
Kamal Shah said he would personally monitor the performance of every police station, while the transfer and posting of SHOs would depend on his performance.
Kamal Shah asked the police officials to further strengthen the information network to check terrorists, particularly the sectarian killers. He said that informers in that regard would be duly rewarded by the government by way of cash awards and commendation certificates. However, the inefficient and negligent ones would be punished.
He informed that by the next month, the Sindh Police will have 360 new pickups, besides modern wireless sets and new motorcycles and 5000 vacant posts would also be filled. He further said that Police had been allocated higher amount in the federal and provincial budgets and during the last 2-3 months scores of pending promotions had been granted.
On the occasion, Capital City Police Chief, Asad Jehangir, DIG Operation Tariq Jamil and other officials were also present.
