KARACHI, Jan 15: At least 15 people were injured and a dozen vehicles damaged in two explosions within a period of 15 minutes on Thursday along the parking area of the Karachi's Holy Trinity Church.
The first explosion was caused by a cracker and the second was said to have been due to a powerful bomb. "It was an act of terrorism and we are investigating all aspects," city police chief Asad Ashraf Malick told reporters on the spot when asked to comment on the incident.
He said it was premature to blame anyone as the investigation was still in its preliminary stage. The injured included the Clifton town police officer Munir Shaikh, his two guards and three Rangers' officials.
The injured included Aslam, Zakaria, Malik Dad, Irfan, Peter Pervaiz, Mudassir and Malik Tariq. Rangers officials were Mohammad Iqbal, Ameer Abdullah and Naveed Ahmed. Police officials were Munir Shaikh, Riaz, Samad and Mohammad Riaz.
Police said that a cracker was hurled at a book shop - Pakistan Bible Society - which exploded, injuring a bookseller. The police and Rangers reached the spot and so did the press reporters and photographers.
As investigators were examining the place of the nature of blast and its impact, a powerful bomb, planted in a Suzuki Hi-Roof, parked near the bookstore along the wall of the Holy Trinity Church, exploded.
The TPO Clifton was in his car and was about to come out of the vehicle when the bomb placed in the Suzuki went off, injuring14 people who were all taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).
The Suzuki blew into pieces and damaged other parked vehicles. Two motorcycles of journalists were also damaged completely. The site of the blast showed the Zaibunnisa Street littered with the wreckage of vehicles. The police closed the road for vehicular traffic and diverted the traffic to alternative routes.
The bomb weighed around eight kilograms, an official of the Bomb Disposal Squad said. Peter Pervaiz, a bookseller at the shop, said at the hospital: "An explosion occurred and I got injured. People took me to the hospital. I don't know what happened there."
A Rangers' official Mohammad Iqbal said: "As we reached the spot and were examining the nature of the first blast, the second went off with a huge bang." Director-General of Rangers Major-General Javed Zia, who had assumed charge of his post a day earlier, told reporters that at 3:03pm two men on motorcycle came at the Christian Reading Room located in the premises of Holy Trinity's Church and lobbed some light explosive device which damaged some window panes.
About 15 minutes later, a second powerful blast occurred injuring many people and damaging several parked vehicles, he added. However, an eyewitness Sikandar said: "I saw two men on a motorcycle hurling something which exploded. I informed a nearby Rangers' picket to follow those on motorcyclists. But the Rangers' vehicle could not start and the motorcyclists sped away."
SSP Investigation Zone 1 Manzoor Mughal told Dawn that the Suzuki (GA-9228) belonging to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission was snatched at gunpoint from the limits of Gulistan-i-Jauhar Police Station around 10:25am.
A police official quoted the driver of the Suzuki Faiz Rasool as saying that the two suspects were bearded and well-built. Police said that the Suzuki Hi-Roof was fitted with CNG and after the blast the leaking CNG cylinder of the vehicle was found lying across the road in front of the Baloch Mess.
Due to the impact of the explosion the Hi-Roof almost disintegrated into small pieces. Some of the damaged vehicles were (VDR-5604), (E-6673), (SP- 1170), (ADG-131), (AET-131), (ABR-461), (ABQ-136).
An investigating official said: "It is somehow a new trend introduced by terrorists. In previous explosions, the terrorists purchased a car to plant a bomb with. In this case, the vehicle was snatched at gunpoint on the same day."