Bomb misses police contingent carrying suspects to court

The suspects had been arrested from Mauripur on Sunday.

KARACHI: A bomb blast rocked Hawkes Bay Road on Monday just as law enforcers were transporting 10 alleged gangsters, who had been arrested from Mauripur on Sunday, to court.

Mauripur police station SHO Shafiq Tanoli and other officials escaped unhurt, with the accused safely in their custody. SHO Tanoli told The Express Tribune that a loud explosion took place as soon as the police convoy reached Hawkes Bay Road. The bomb exploded within three feet of the police vans and an armoured personnel carrier, he said, as the culprits apparently exploded the remote-controlled bomb a couple of seconds early. A police mobile was damaged in the attack, but no one was hurt.



Extra contingents of police and paramilitary forces reached the site and cordoned off the area after the incident. Members of the bomb disposal squad (BDS) also came in and inspected the blast site.

BDS experts claimed that the bomb, which was concealed inside a concrete block, was packed with about three kilogrammes of highly explosive material, and ball bearings. They confirmed that it was an improvised explosive device that was connected to a remote.



For the time being, at least, law enforcers have apparently decided to go with the obvious premise, that the culprits had been hoping to use the wreckage and mayhem caused by the explosion to free their accomplices who were being taken to court.

A case has been registered against unidentified persons, while further investigations were underway, said Tanoli.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2013.