Four blasts in a year, no suspects identified

Counter-Terrorism Dept fails to complete investigations

RAWALPINDI:

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police has failed to identify suspects in any of the four terror attacks that occurred in the garrison city during the outgoing year.

Three people lost their lives while more than 30 people sustained injuries in four explosions linked to terrorism in Rawalpindi this year.

The first terror attack of 2020 was on Adiyala Road in January. Initially, the law enforcement agencies declared it a police firing incident. However, evidence such as cracks in the road at the explosion site refuted the claims made earlier. Four casualties were reported in the incident with one dead and three others injured.

The second blast took place at the Saddar Market in March in which seven people were injured. An Improvised explosive device (IED) tied with a pole in Kabari Bazaar exploded in June this year in which one person was killed while 12 including children were wounded.

The latest IED explosion took place at the Pirwadhai bus terminal owing to which eight passengers in a tri-wheeler Qingqui were injured. Later, one of the casualties succumbed to wounds and died.

The police officials have found a resemblance between Saddar and Pirwadhai blasts. However, the LEAs have not been able to trace suspects in any of the mishaps.

In this regard, The Express Tribune tried to approach the Punjab Police Spokesperson Nayab Haider over the telephone. However, citing he was busy, the official committed to calling back but he did not. Later, the spokesperson did not pick up the correspondent’s call as well.

Further, CTD Additional Inspector General (AIG) Rai Tahir was also approached using the same medium but his operator received the call and assured The Express Tribune that communication would be established once the official became available. However, the contact could not be established since then.

According to newspaper reports, as an ASP, Rai Tahir, then serving in Sindh police was involved in the controversial encounter that killed Mir Murtaza Bhutto along with his colleagues near his residence 70 Clifton in Karachi in 1996.

He was again in the limelight in the 2019 slaying of a family in a police encounter on a highway in Sahiwal.

Meanwhile, sources informed The Express Tribune that sleuths have found some important leads while probing into the Pirwadhai blast. They expressed hope that the culprits behind the incident would be traced soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2020.