20kg explosive device defused near MUET

Rickshaw driver spotted bomb minutes before buses of three universities were to pass the route

HYDERABAD: A terrorists' plan to detonate an improvised explosive device (IED) near a university in Jamshoro was thwarted on Wednesday. The IED, which weighed at least 20 kilogrammes (kg) according to the bomb disposal squad, was spotted around an hour before dozens of university buses were to pass through the location.

Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) Incharge Ramzan Panhwar told The Express Tribune that the explosive device consisted of five cylindrical metal containers welded together with each container filled with over 1kg of explosive material besides ball bearings, bolts and nuts. "I haven't seen a device weighing between 20kg and 25kg previously in Hyderabad region," claimed Panhwar who has been working in the BDS for 22 years.

The bomb was detected by a rickshaw driver who informed the police about it, Jamshoro SSP Irfan Bahadur said while speaking to the media. The SSP added that upon receiving the information, the police reached the site and cordoned off the area. The device had been planted on the Indus Highway under a concrete wall a few hundred meters away from the entrance gate of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET).



After the bomb detection, all the buses carrying students of MUET, the University of Sindh and Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences were stopped at the toll plaza. The buses of MUET were diverted to another route to reach the varsity. Scores of students had to walk through the rocky terrain to reach the three varsities where classes reportedly started 30 minutes to an hour late from the scheduled time. A press release issued by MUET stated that the academic activities continued uninterrupted except for a 30-minute delay in commencement of the classes.

Public transport and goods transport vehicles were also not allowed to pass through the road until the BDS defused the bomb and cleared the road around 10:30am, according to Special Branch SP Aamir Shah.

According to the Jamshoro SSP, the incident's FIR will be lodged by the Counter-Terrorism Department.



No organisation had claimed the responsibility of planting the IED till the filing of this story. It remained unclear whether a nationalist outfit or terrorist group was involved in the incident. The police and Rangers also carried out search operations at hotels near the railway station in Hyderabad but no arrest has been declared so far either by Jamshoro or Hyderabad police.