KARACHI, July 28: Police on Saturday registered a case against unidentified suspects for Friday’s hand-grenade attack on a department store near NIPA as investigators discovered that more commercial units, including private hospitals, had received extortion demands.

Officials said the Aziz Bhatti police registered an FIR (497/2012) on behalf of the state as the management of the emporium avoided pursuing legal formalities despite requests by the police.

“A case has been registered under Sections 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code against unidentified suspects,” said an official. “Sections ¾ of the Explosive Act and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act have also been incorporated in the FIR. Three vehicles were damaged and a passerby was injured in the attack.”

When asked about the police line of investigation, he said it was almost definite that the attack was carried out to extort money from the store management, and it also emerged from the facts of recent past shared by the store management.

“A couple of suspects involved in the extortion racket are already in police custody and their accounts could lead to unearthing of more facts that would help reach the actual ring behind the frequent hand-grenade attacks in the city,” he added.

He said the police had received a number of complaints from individuals and business organisations which suggested that the trend in the city was growing.

“Complainants included individuals, owners of superstores and some private hospitals, who have received extortion ‘slips’ from unknown groups,” he said. “It would be a little too early to arrive at any conclusion as to whether there are different groups or the same one behind these threats. We have seen that mainly the HE-36 hand grenades are used to terrify people by those involved in extortion activities.”