Police still clueless about major suicide blasts in Lahore

No breakthrough in Raiwind, Ferozpur, Mall Road blasts which targeted LEAs

LAHORE: The provincial capital was left bleeding once again after another terror attack ripped through a police vehicle parked outside Gate 2 of famous Sufi shrine Data Darbar.

Initial investigations suggested that it was a suicide attack and the target this time too was the law-enforcement agencies. Since 2018, it was the fifth suicide attack in Lahore.

All these attacks including Raiwind Road blast, Ferozpur Road Blast, Bedian Road blast, Mall Road blast and the recent one i.e. Data Darbar blast, have specifically targeted at the law-e-enforcement agencies.

Unfortunately, the investigators could not make a breakthrough as far as busting the suspected networks and the arrest of the attackers and facilitators was concerned in these attacks except Mall Road blast.



In Mall Road blast, at least 18 people including DIG Mobeen and SSP Zahid Nawaz Gondal were killed and dozens were injured. It had occurred when police had gathered to provide security to the protesters and DIG Mobeen and SSP Zahid Nawaz had come for negotiations. In the blast, the suspected suicide bomber was transported to the site with the help of a facilitator identified as Anwarul Haq. The Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) cameras had captured Anwar and the attacker.

Anwar was later on killed in April, 2018 in an encounter by Counter Terrorism Department Punjab (CTD) a few days after the Bedian Road blast. No other head way was made regarding the attack.

Anti-Organised Crime Cell of Lahore Police had arrested few suspects involved in running an illegal telephone exchange used for grey-trafficking. They were arrested after a threatening phone call was received by the PSCA Lahore. The caller had intimidated them for their role in pointing out the bomber and Anwar. Police, during investigations, had found that a member of the gang was running a mobile phone shop where SIMs were issued. He would fraudulently get issued extra bio-metric SIMs from the visiting customers.

The number used in making a phone call to the PSCA was registered against a doctor who was living in Canada. Except busting the gang members running the exchange, the investigators could not identify any link to who made the call.

In Raiwind Road blast in March, 2018, at least 12 people including policemen had died while 35 otehrs were injured. The attacker had targeted a police post when the shift was being changed on the occasion of Tableeghi Jamat’s congregation. The investigators could not identify the modus operandi of the suspect, the way he used to reach the target and any facilitator.



In Bedian Road Blast in April 2017, at least eight people were killed while several were injured and a census team was targeted. In the blast, the target was government officials and not public. This case is yet to be solved as far the identification of modus operandi and the facilitators was concerned, no progress was made.

Similar was the case with July 2017 Ferozpur Road blast in which at least 27 among people including police officials were killed and several were injured.

The policemen had geared up to vacate a plot on the government’s whim that was being used as a vegetable market. The investigators in this also could not identify where did the attacker landed, what was his modus operandi to hit the target. There were also no clues to the handlers and facilitators of the attacker.

Sharing about the context of exclusively targeting the law-enforcement agencies by Jamatul Ahrar, an offshoot of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an official seeking anonymity, said the decision was taken during a meeting of the banned outfit’s leadership in an area in Afghanistan bordering Pakistan.

In the meeting, a debate had ensued about the nature of target in the context of widespread criticism invoked due to the killing of the public including children in targeted terror attacks. The meeting had decided not to target public gatherings also termed as soft targets that included markets, bus stations, funerals and marriage gatherings.

A leader of the organisation in a video message after the meeting had announced at least eight types of targets, all were either government installations, LEAs or banks, would be targeted.

After the change in policy by the outfit regarding nature of the target, a policy shift in their operations ie modus operandi has also taken place.

The inability to solve three major terror attacks; Raiwind Road, Ferozpur Road and Bedian Road despite the passing of over a year raises serious questions about the role of CTD and other LEAs in dealing with the new trend of terror attacks.

Efforts were made to contact Additional IG CTD Punjab Rai Tahir, who has been heading the wing for long, for his comments but he did not respond.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2019.