Panic: Students stay out for three hours after bomb threat

Dept director received text message warning him of a bomb attack.

HYDERABAD: The students and teachers of Sindh University’s Institute of Information and Technology (IICT) stayed outside for three hours after a phone call warned of a bomb inside the department.

The IICT director, Dr Asad Shaikh, received a text message on Wednesday night from a cellphone number, 0312 696 6475, that belonged to a man who identified himself as Major Rana Waqas. “We have a hundred per cent authentic report that tomorrow at your department exhibition there can be a bomb blast,” the message read. The exhibition that he referred to was a project exhibit that the department was organising and the vice chancellor, Dr Nazir A. Mughal was supposed to be the chief guest.

The department cancelled the programme after receiving this message and as soon as the university opened at around 8:30am, they called in the bomb disposal squad.



“We searched the building for over two hours but found nothing,” said the squad in-charge, inspector Saleem Vistro. The students and teachers were only allowed to enter the department around 11:30am.

Meanwhile, the Sindh University Teachers Organisation (Suta) demanded an inquiry led by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) into the incident. “The FIA should investigate under the Prevention and Control of Cyber Crimes Ordinance,” said Suta general secretary Dr Azhar Ali Shah. “The culprits who want to destroy peace in the university should be punished.”

The university’s spokesperson, Nadir Mugheri, said that the administration has yet to decide if they want to register an FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2013.