RAHIM YAR KHAN: As many as 20 people were injured in an explosion that took place inside the building of a private bank on Bypass Link Road in Sadiqabad, about 37 kilometres from here, on Thursday.

The investigators could not find a clue to the nature of the blast till last reports came in.

Officials of the Rescue 1122 and district administration told Dawn that the explosion at the private bank branch near Charyanwala Chowk left 20 people injured. Six of the injured were shifted to the Shaikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) in a critical condition while 14 others were taken to Sadiqabad’s THQ hospital.

Among the injured are Rashid, Ismail, Azhar Abbas, Zahid Abbas, Yaqoob, Muhammad Alam, Muhammad Qasim, Aamir Kashif, Ghulam Hussain, Asim, Javed Iqbal, Ehtaram, Muawia, Mahmood, Tanzeel, Ghulam Fareed, Adnan and a bank employee, Shahid.

Deputy Commissioner Jameel Ahmed Jameel declared an emergency in the two hospitals. Regional Police Officer Imran Mahmood and District Police Officer Umar Farooq Salamat reached the spot and started investigation.

The RPO would submit the report of the blast to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. His public relations officer Rehan Gilani said the chief minister sought a report on the Sadiqabad tragedy earlier in the day. He said personnel of intelligence agencies reached the place to gather evidence and information about the blast.

He said no banned outfit had accepted responsibility of the blast and officials were expecting to make a headway in the case by Friday.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2019