LAHORE: The suicide bomber who blew himself up in the Raiwind blast was identified on Friday.

Another policeman injured in the incident succumbed to his injuries at the Jinnah Hospital, raising the death toll to 11.

Constable Sabir Ali who breathed his last was an operator of the assistant superintendent of the police (ASP) Raiwind office and he had suffered critical wounds for being close to the blast site. He was said to be in serious condition among seven other injured persons, including five policemen, at the Jinnah Hospital.

The suicide bomber has been identified as Syed Tausif Shah, a resident of Swat.

An official, privy to the investigation, also said that the law enforcement agencies picked up some suspects in a raid carried out in the Badami Bagh area on Friday. The suspects included the bomber’s uncle, Syed Ghazi Shah, and his son.

Meanwhile, the Counter Terrorism Department seemed to be in a hurry to lodge the case of attack as it had not mentioned in the FIR the two hand grenades that the alleged terrorist was carrying.

A senior official, privy to the investigation, said the police experts were shocked to know that the recovery of hand grenades from the crime site was not mentioned in the FIR. He said the attacker wanted to use the hand grenades before the blast to wreak more havoc by taking more lives of the police personnel and those attending the Tablighi Jamaat’s congregation.

“The post-blast investigation and the statements of the injured policemen revealed that there was a fierce scuffle between the policemen and the suicide bomber. If the attacker had thrown the hand grenades in the gathering of the cops or in the main venue of the congregation, it would have been more devastating,” the official said.

He added that shortly after the suicide bomber blew himself up, the police experts had seized the hand grenades, defused them and sent them for forensic analysis.

“According to the post-blast analysis, 80pc of the total injured persons had suffered wounds in the lower part of their bodies, particularly on the legs.”

Quoting statements of the injured constables, he said, during the scuffle with the duty cops, the bomber fell down on the ground and he blew himself up in the same position and blast in the standing position could have resulted in more casualties and injuries.

The CTD spokesperson said he could neither confirm nor deny the arrests made on Friday, saying the suspects might have been taken into custody by some other sensitive agency.

To a question, the CTD spokesperson expressed his ignorance of the recovery of the hand grenades from the crime scene.

Meanwhile, the official said the government had also formed a joint investigation team to probe the Raiwind tragic incident.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2018