Investigators still clueless which vehicle was used

Police stumped that no group has come forward to claim responsibility.

KARACHI: Investigations into the blast at Abbas Town on Sunday evening are making slow progress as the investigators are still clueless about which vehicle was planted with explosives.

DSP Qamar Ahmed told The Express Tribune that the Subaru and mini-Shehzore truck that were earlier being suspected have been cleared since both the vehicles were owned by a nearby restaurant. The investigators have found, however, parts of another vehicle on Tuesday in which they suspect that the terrorists planted the explosives.

“The vehicle parts that we found belong to a Suzuki-manufactured vehicle, but we have yet to verify if it is a Suzuki hi-roof or a Mehran,” DSP Ahmed said. “We are suspecting this car because the owner has not stepped forward as yet.”



The investigators also found a dual SIM cellphone from the debris that has been sent to Sindh Police forensic department. The data from the SIM card was retrieved and handed over to the investigators, said a forensic official. Though the police have yet to find any reliable evidence that can point out which group was behind the attack, they have reason to believe that the same group may have been behind the attacks in Karachi and Quetta since the modus operandi was the same.

“In Quetta too, an explosives-laden vehicle was blasted in the centre of two buildings and the same thing happened in Karachi,” Quetta police CCPO Mir Zubair Mehmood told The Express Tribune. “The differences were the quantity of explosives and the fact that there were suicide bombers in Karachi.”

The police investigators were also groping in the dark as none of the terrorists organisations have officially claimed responsibility. On the contrary, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has disassociated itself by saying that they had nothing to do with the Abbas Town attack.



“Historically, we have seen groups such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and TTP involved in similar attacks,” said Crime Investigation Department’s (CID) SSP Raja Omar Khattab. “Perhaps because the LeJ name is already highlighted on the media and there have been crackdowns against them, they are reluctant to claim responsibility.” According to Khattab, initial investigation suggests that LeJ was the mastermind of the blast but the financial and logistical support was provided by the TTP.

FIR registered

Sacchal police have registered an FIR No. 121/13 under sections 302 (murder), 324/34 (attempt to murder), 427, 436 (damaging property), 120-B (terrorists planning) of the Pakistan Penal Code, ¾ of the Explosives Act and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

According to DSP Ahmed, the case was registered on behalf of the state against unidentified persons. He explained that the FIR registration was delayed because the police was busy collecting details of the victims. He said a total 49 people were killed and around 165 were injured. The police have also registered two separate cases against unidentified persons for setting on fire vehicles on Super Highway during the funeral procession of the eight victims of the Abbas Town tragedy and looting the cash from the petrol pump.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2013.