Muharram security: Police retrieve two defused shells

Law enforcers evacuated the area during their search.

HYDERABAD:

The police retrieved two shells of an anti-aircraft gun in Gharibabad but later found that that they were already defused.

On Saturday, an anonymous call to the 15 helpline jolted the Hyderabad police into action. The caller pointed to two suspicious bags lying near a garbage heap in Gharibabad. “The timing of such information [about possible bombs] was alarming,” said the Hyderabad SSP Pir Farid Jan Sarhandi.

With the majority of the police force stationed along the main procession routes, the remaining ones rushed to the site along with the bomb disposal squad. They later found out that the shells were already defused. During the search, the police asked the residents of nearby buildings to leave the area until their search was over. In the following raids, the police picked up four suspects but refused to reveal their identities. Sarhandi claimed that as many as 17 suspects, mostly from banned outfits, have been detained over the last two days.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2012.