Targeted attack: Rangers soldier, civilian injured in bomb blast in Hyderabad

Only a part of bomb exploded as grenade planted inside pressure cooker did not detonate

HYDERABAD: An explosive device targeting the Rangers partially went off near Sindh Agriculture University, Tando Jam, in Hyderabad on Friday, leaving one paramilitary soldier and one civilian injured. However, as only part of the bomb exploded, major casualties were avoided.

The police attributed the incident to the shadowy Sindhu Desh Liberation Army, which has been held responsible for similar incidents across the province in the past.

According to bomb disposal squad in-charge Ramzan Panhwar, over 250 grammes of explosive material and a Russian-made grenade were placed inside a pressure cooker, which was attached to a bicycle outside the university.

The explosives were set off with the help of a remote control. However, the grenade, which was meant to intensify the blast, did not explode apparently due to use of low quality explosives. "The blast ripped apart the cooker in hundreds of pieces, which scattered over a 150-feet diameter.

The back of the cycle was also damaged but the blast propelled the grenade 15 to 20 feet away from the cycle instead of exploding it thanks to its thick shell," explained Panhwar.

"A remote controlled bomb fixed to a bicycle parked near the main entrance of the university's gymkhana [on Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas Road] exploded when the Rangers mobile passed by it," Hyderabad SSP Irfan Baloch told the media. He linked the attack to similar ones being masterminded by Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), accusing a banned nationalist outfit as the executioner.

Rangers Brigadier Tariq Zafar, who also inspected the site, said the vehicle carrying his personnel was the target.

"The Rangers vehicle was the target of the terrorists but luckily no loss of life occurred," he said. The soldier was not injured in the blast but actually sustained minor bruises when the vehicle came to an abrupt halt when the blast occurred.

The SSP said that a suspicious person, whom the police sources identified as Bilawal alias Billu, was arrested in an injured condition from the site. However, he said that his involvement in the incident has not been proven yet.

According to the SSP, the bomb was placed in the bicycle's carrier. It weighed around 250 grammes. "This is the first time in Hyderabad that a grenade in a pressure cooker has been used for a blast," he said.

In a similar attack on the Rangers in Larkana on July 30 this year, a paramilitary soldier was killed.

Meanwhile, the Rangers and police arrested over a dozen suspects during a search operation in the boys' hostel and residential colony of the university.

An FIR of the incident has been registered at Tando Jam police station against unidentified suspects.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2016.