Misreporting caused panic in the district and sessions court and adjoining residential area on Thursday as police carried out a prolonged search for a hand grenade allegedly spotted by someone but found a tear gas shell on a road.
The police failed to ascertain, through CCTV footage from the court, whether the shell had been thrown by someone or had fallen on the road.
Security staff of the court received information at around 10:30am from pedestrians about a "hand grenade" spotted at the judges' gate.
Panic spread at the place and the security officials called the Bomb Disposal Squad, which arrived shortly afterwards.
Read Three brothers killed in toy bomb explosion
Meanwhile, security officials stopped people from goring towards the roads leading to the spot. Some media reporters also broadcast reports about a grenade. Gates of the premises were closed and residents of the locality in front of the entrance reserved for judges were also alarmed because of the reports. Soon, the bomb disposal officials clarified that “it is just a tear gas shell and there is no need to worry".
The squad declared the area safe after a further search around the building.
The DIG operations told the media after arriving at the spot that footage from a CCTV camera installed at a house located in front of the court gate would be reviewed to ascertain the shell reached the spot.
He said it was not an act of terrorism. The official said the police were investigating the incident.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2021.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ