CHARSADDA: A motorcyclist was killed when explosive material he was allegedly carrying went off in Umarzai area here on Thursday.

Residents and police said that the explosion rocked the area and was heard in the far-off localities. They said the body parts of the motorcyclist were scattered at the site of incident.

A case was registered under sections 7ATA and 3/4ESA at the counter-terrorism department (CTD) on the complaint of Bismillah Jan, SHO Umarzai police station.

Police and bomb disposal unit reached the blast site immediately after the incident and collected the evidence. They said the motorcyclist was identified as Jalal Khan, a resident of Umarzai, from his national identity card recovered from the site.

Charsadda district police officer (DPO) Masood Ahmad, who reached the spot soon after the explosion, told reporters that at present it was not possible to say whether the explosion was suicide bombing or caused by explosive material the motorcyclist was carrying.

The DPO said the man’s house had also been searched with the help of CTD, and further investigation was under way.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2024