RAWALPINDI, Aug 20 Eight people, including four policemen, were injured when a bomb exploded close to a police patrol car on the Misryal road here on Thursday.

City Police Officer Rao Iqbal told Dawn that investigators were trying to determine whether it was a grenade attack or an explosive device had been planted.

He said initial investigation suggested that some policemen were on patrol in a private car when probably a grenade was hurled at them from a distance.

He said it left four policemen injured and damaged the car.

However, nobody was killed in the attack. The injured were taken to the DHQ hospital. Doctors described Mohammad Imran's condition as critical.

Mohammad Arif, one of the injured victims, said that on receiving his brother's telephone call that he had been stopped by some policemen on the Misryal road, he, along with his friends Ehsan and Saeed reached there and was giving his particulars to policemen when the explosion occurred.

“It looked as if lightning had struck from the sky,” a terrified Arif said.

The injured policemen were identified as Aftab, Yousaf, Malik Liaquat and Saeed.

In addition to a private car being used by the policemen, a motorbike and a nearby wall were badly damaged in the explosion.