KARACHI: The burned clothes of the victims who were killed and injured in Saturday’s mysterious blast outside Cantt railway station have been sent to the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) Laboratory for examination to confirm whether or not explosives were used.
Six people were killed and over 50 when the blast ripped through an inter-city passenger bus outside the station.
The cause of the blast left police officials clueless as investigators could not find traces of explosives.
But on Sunday, investigators reviewed the footage from the CCTV cameras installed in the Cantt station neighbourhood, which suggested that it was a suicide attack, a senior police investigator told The Express Tribune. The CCTV camera footage was released to media outlets by the police later on Monday evening.
On Monday, the police sent the burnt clothes of the victims to the PCSIR to determine whether or not explosives were used.
A senior police officer told The Express Tribune that the police have also sent the burnt clothes to the US Consulate to confirm traces of explosives.
“We have offered our assistance to the Sindh police but we cannot comment on an ongoing investigation,” said US consulate spokesperson Richard Silver.
According to unofficial reports, the consulate laboratory failed to find any explosives. The police are now depending on the PCSIR Laboratory report.
However, DIG Shahid Hayat, district south police chief, while speaking to The Express Tribune, neither confirmed nor denied the consulate report and said that PCSIR’s report was the most reliable for investigators.
“The FIR states the information we have collected through investigations so far. We are now waiting for the PCSIR report. If the report does not mention traces of explosives, the possibility of it [the attack] being a terror activity will be ruled out. Accordingly, the related sections will be removed from the FIR,” Hayat said.
On the other hand, a bomb disposal squad expert told The Express Tribune that it was not necessary that every piece of the clothes contain traces of explosives.
“The blast site was not preserved and the victims were moved to safe places. Others at the site must have also touched the victims, so their clothes might not have traces of explosives by the time they are sent to the laboratory.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2013.
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