GILGIT, March 6: Two people were injured when an improvised explosive devise went off on the airport road here on Tuesday evening, injuring two people, said a senior police official.

“The blast occurred near Gul Azim patrol pump on airport road, injuring two people who were taken to city hospital for treatment,” said Mohammad Ali Zia, SSP Gilgit, while talking to Dawn.Mr Zia said one of the injured was identified as Mohammad Hussain while name of another could not be known, adding one of them was a fruit seller while the other was a passerby.

The SSP said law-enforcement agencies cordoned off the area and initiated a search operation to apprehend the suspects. He added it was not yet known whether or not the explosive was planted on the roadside.“The bomb disposal squad is inspecting the site to establish the nature of the blast,” he stated.

Meanwhile, police increased patrolling on the roads as explosions panicked the city residents and deserted the markets. The city hospital officials said one of the injured was out of danger while an operation was being done on the other injured person.

POSTING: Failure to join duties by the chief engineer of Diamer division has been slammed by the contractors association.

Addressing a news conference, members of the contractors association said the chief engineer posted to Diamer from Gilgit three months back had not joined duties.

They said chief engineer was avoiding coming to Chilas from Gilgit.

Mohammad Shafi, who was promoted as chief engineer and posted to Diamer, has reportedly set up his office in the office of the minister for works Bashir Ahmed.