Mischief makers? Cracker hurled at house in DHA Phase V

KARACHI: A cracker exploded in a house in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase V on Thursday, causing panic among the residents. Fortunately, the losses were limited to broken windows.

The Russian-made cracker was hurled inside the house of a real-estate developer located off Khayaban-e-Badban at around 4:30am, SHO Amjad Anwar of Darakhshan police station told The Express Tribune. It, however, did not cause any big loss due to its low intensity and the fact that it landed on the car porch. SHO Anwar added that only some windows of the house were shattered.

The house owner, identified as Hashim, ran a construction business in South Africa and recently returned to the country for the treatment of his ailing father, he explained.

In such cases, motives can vary from extortion to personal enmity, however, Hashim did not report anything, the police officer said, adding that it could also just be a case of someone wanting to scare the residents. An FIR (485/16) has been lodged under sections 3 and 4 of the Explosives Substances Act, read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act against unknown persons, the officer added.

DHA is also patrolled by its own security and vigilance unit. A spokesperson commented that the unit existed to implement the authority's by-laws and rules but it also helped law enforcers augment their duties.

The spokesperson seconded the police version, saying that someone wanting to cause mischief was behind the incident and added that the security and vigilance unit was also alerted to keep an eye on such elements.

The unit monitors the situation through its CCTVs installed throughout the area and if some suspicious activity is detected a team rushes to the scene, he explained, adding that in many cases the team has caught troublemakers and had handed them over to police for further action.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2016.