Cops make headway in Rangers’ attack case
The picture of one of the suspected terrorists involved in the attack on a Pakistan Rangers' mobile van in Orangi Town has been acquired by investigation agencies, said the police on Tuesday.
The face of the other suspect is also discernible in the CCTV footage, stated officials, adding that he appeared to be aged between 30 to 40 years, sported a beard and had donned a blue shalwar kameez on the day.
A Pakistan Rangers official was killed while 16 others, including two Rangers personnel and an official of the Anti-Vehicle Lifting Cell, were injured on Monday when an improvised explosive device fitted in a motorcycle blasted in Orangi Town.
The martyred Rangers official, Roshan Ali Solangi, 45, was laid to rest, with military honours, in his native village, Budhai Khan Solangi, in Naushero Feroze district on Tuesday.
FIR lodged
Earlier, the Counter Terrorism Department Police lodged a case pertaining to the attack against the two yet to be identified terrorists.
The case was lodged under Sections 302, 324 and 427 read with 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 and 21(I) of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 4 read with Section 4 read with Section 3 of the Explosives Act on the complaint of a Rangers official, Ghulam Sarwar.
According to the text of the FIR, three personnel of the paramilitary force were patrolling in a Rangers mobile van in Orangi Town. At 5.55pm as the Rangers mobile neared a parked motorcycle, bearing the number plate MJ-7672, an IED fitted in the motorcycle blasted.
Read: Rangers personnel martyred in Karachi IED explosion
The FIR mentions that one personnel was martyred while several others, including the other two Rangers personnel, were injured.
It adds that the terrorists, who are identifiable by face in the CCTV footage, carried out the bomb blast on the directives of anti-state elements to create chaos and spread terror in the country.
According to the bomb disposal squad's initial report, the explosive device was blasted using a remote control device. It contained four to five kilogrammes of explosives and ball bearings and went off when the Rangers mobile was passing through the area.
The CCTV footage of the blast showed two suspected terrorists parking the motorcycle and boarding a rickshaw across the road.The police believe that the attackers were present nearby when they detonated the bomb.
Refuting claim
Commenting on the statement issued later on Monday by banned outfit and separatist group, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), claiming responsibility for the attack, police sources said that some of the investigation agencies have found the BLA's claim dubious.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2021.