FIR lodged over grenade attack case under terrorism charges

Police yet to make headway in probe into blast that left 13 dead

KARACHI:

The police have yet to make headway in the recent grenade attack case in Mawach Goth. An FIR was lodged on Tuesday at Madina Colony Police Station over the attack which left 13 people dead and seven others injured on Independence Day.

The FIR was lodged on the complaint of Mairaj Ahmed Khan, a family member of the deceased, under Sections 302, 324 and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Sections three and four of the Explosive Substance Act and Section seven of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

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According to the FIR, the family members were visiting their daughter’s in-laws at Pareshan Chowk in Abidabad area of Baldia and on their way back, a hand grenade was lobbed on their mini-truck by perpetrators on motorcycle. Twelve members of the family, which hailed from Swat, died the same night and the death toll rose to 13 when a six-year-old boy, Fahad, succumbed to his injuries at the National Institute of Child Health on Sunday. The other seven injured are undergoing treatment at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital’s trauma centre.

South Zone-III Investigation SSP Muhammad Anwar Ketrani told The Express Tribune that the police are probing the matter from different angles. He said that the CCTV footage of the route taken by the family is being examined and a suspicious mobile number flagged after geofencing of the site is being looked into.

The investigation thus far suggests that this was a terror attack and armed suspects on motorcycles hurled the grenade at the truck, said the SSP.

The police have yet to determine the number of perpetrators involved, according to the SSP.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2021.