Police operation: 10 arrested over Gilgit van attack

The blast victims had earlier lodged an FIR with the local police station nominating 10 individuals as suspects.

GILGIT:

Following Sunday’s brazen bomb attack in Gilgit on a commuter van, local police conducted a search operation here on Monday arresting 10 suspects.

According to sources, blast victims had earlier lodged an FIR with the local police station nominating 10 individuals as suspects.

DIG police, Ali Sher told The Express Tribune that “in all we have arrested 10 people so far who are being interrogated”. He added that 5 of the arrested included suspects nominated in the FIR.

The police official summarily condemned the bomb attack on innocent civilians by terming it an act of “terrorism” and assuring that more raids to nab culprits would be conducted in the coming days.

The attack on the passenger van occurred on Sunday near Minawar, Gilgit as an explosive device attached beneath a culvert was triggered as a passenger van, on its way to Haramosh, crossed over it. The attack had left one passenger dead and four severely injured. Meanwhile, regional information minister Dr Ali Madad Sher visited the injured at a local hospital. “We would provide adequate compensation to the family members of the deceased and the injured as per policy,” he added.

The attack, assumed to be targeting security forces, reflects the growing incidents of law and order in Gilgit. However, local police officials have said it is too early to assume that the attack was meant to target security forces and only further investigations would reveal a motive for the blast.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2012.