‘Timely police action could have prevented explosion’

Locals say police misbehaved with an informant who reported suspicious truck in area

LAHORE: Initial investigations have revealed the criminal negligence on the part of the local police was one of the reasons that Outfall Road explosion could not be prevented.

Locals claimed the police had been told about a suspicious truck on the roadside, but authorities ignored the informant and instead misbehaved with him.



Before the homecoming of the ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Lahore Police received a route plan on Friday of the rally. As a part of security arrangements, police collected surety bonds signed by owners of shops, buildings, hotels and parking stands that fell on the route. At the same time, the force launched search operations along the path and remained in search of any suspicious person or activity.

On Saturday, a truck loaded with fruits was seen parked without a driver. However, the rally of Nawaz Sharif was cancelled on the day and his visit was rescheduled.

On Monday, Rehmat Bhatti, owner of the parking stand, sent his employee Hassan to report about the suspicious truck to the Lower Mall Police Station a few hours before the blast. He told the police that the truck had been standing there since Saturday and a foul odour was emanating from it. However, instead of taking any action, the police misbehaved with Hassan and said checking trucks for rotten fruits was not part of their job.

Hassan returned to the truck stand with his tail between his legs and the tragic incident occurred just a few hours later. Capital City Police Officer Amin Wains confirmed the area police had received a complaint about the truck, but the complainant said nothing about explosives. “He only described the smell emerging from the truck,” he said.



Wains added that the police were about to take action, but the blast occurred soon after. As many as 45 people were injured and two bodies were recovered from the debris.

Forensic evidence collection

On Tuesday, law enforcement agencies kept the crime scene cordoned off and collected forensic evidence. The process could not be completed on Monday night due to darkness and electricity tripping in the area.

In the morning, LEAs and experts started the operation and reconstructed the crime scene. During the process, they could not ascertain precisely which vehicle carried the explosives and where it was parked. They failed to identify whether the bomb was remote controlled or of another nature. Samples were sent to the forensic laboratory for further investigations.

Forensic experts believed that over 80 kilogrammes was used in the blast. The explosives were triggered possibly due to humidity and their mixing with rotten fruits.

FIR registered

FIR No 19/17 was registered with the CTD Lahore police station under the explosives act, terrorism, murder, attempt to murder and other charges.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2017.