Cantt blast probe: No trace of explosives found, says report

Any evidence may have been washed away by the fire fighters, say investigators.

KARACHI: A forensic examination of samples collected from the Cantt station blast site has found no traces of explosives, according to a laboratory report from Islamabad.

Six people were killed and at least 50 more were wounded as a powerful explosion ripped through a Sargodha-bound passenger bus on December 29 last year. Bomb disposal experts and senior police officials believed it was a terrorist attack. The police even registered the case under anti-terrorism and anti-explosives laws but were unable to find any reliable evidence of explosive material.

Samples collected from the blast site, including clothes and iron pieces, were sent to a forensic laboratory in Islamabad by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The lab report suggests that any traces of explosives were washed by the fire fighters as they put out the blaze that erupted after the blast, sources in the FIA told The Express Tribune. Some of the samples were unaffected by the explosion.

The investigators also sent some samples to the Sindh police’s forensic division. The police are now looking forward to the report for any possible leads. “One report has ruled out any explosives, now we have to wait for the second report,” a police officer privy to the investigation said.

Nothing accurate can be said until the forensic reports are received and investigation is completed, the case investigation officer, Inspector Nazeer Hussain, told The Express Tribune. Police have yet to determine the motive behind the blast.