Separate incidents: Judge’s house, police station attacked

Grenade hurled at SHC judge's residence failed to explode.

KARACHI: The residence of a Sindh High Court judge and a police station were attacked in different areas of the city on Tuesday night. No loss of life was reported in both the incidents.

In the first incident, at around 9:30pm on Tuesday, unidentified motorcyclists lobbed a grenade at the residence of Justice Nazar Akbar in DHA Phase-V, and sped away, said investigating officer of the case, Imran Jakhrani. The bomb did not, however, explode, he added.

The police are investigating the case from different angles, said Jakhrani, adding that the attackers most likely wanted to terrorise the judge or may have had other intentions but the plan did not work out [as the grenade did not explode].

"Since Justice Akbar is an important personality, the facts of the case need to be ascertained accurately," the officer said, adding that it is premature to say anything about the attackers' affiliation.

The FIR of the incident has been registered at the Darakhshan police station on the state's complaint under the explosives and anti-terrorism acts, he informed.

Meanwhile, within a span of a few minutes, a similar incident was reported from West district where a police station was attacked. A bomb was hurled at the Mominabad police station which partially damaged an outer wall of the complex.

"It was around 9:30pm when we heard an explosion and saw windows shattering [due to the blast's impact]," described Nadir Khan, head muharrar of the police station. "There was also a power breakdown in the area, therefore, we could not immediately ascertain if the bomb was hurled from outside or it was already placed there," he said.

During investigations, it emerged that a home-made bomb was thrown from behind the boundary wall of the police station, said Khan, adding that due to its low intensity, no major loss occurred.

Like other parts of the district, the area is under the influence of several political and religious groups, the officer explained, therefore, it is suspected that the incident was a reaction by miscreants to the ongoing targetted operation in the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2016.