Terror threat: BDS detonates ‘misfired’ grenade in Kharadar

The device was spotted by a watchman of the area who informed the police.

KARACHI:

In an unusual incident, the bomb disposal squad’s (BDS) experts detonated a ‘misfired’ hand grenade found in Kharadar on Friday.

Panic spread in the area and nearby shops were closed down to avoid any untoward incident. A crowd of people also gathered around the spot after receiving the information. Extra contingents of law enforcers reached the site and cordoned-off the area.

DSP Iftikhar Lodhi said that the police was informed about the hand grenade by a watchman of the area, adding that the police immediately evacuated the area. “Initially, we thought it is a Chinese toy,” said DSP Lodhi. “But since we could not take any risk, we immediately called in the bomb disposal squad experts.”

After the initial inspection, the BDS experts warned the police and public about the hand grenade. They urged the law enforcers and the public to remain around 200 metres away from the site. “It was a misfired Russian-made hand grenade and could have exploded any moment,” said a BDS expert, while talking to The Express Tribune. “The only solution was to detonate it.”

The BDS experts encircled the explosive with bags of cement, sand and gravel and attached a safety explosive device circuit to the bags. They then detonated the bomb through a command and control electric system from around 100 metres of distance.

Police officials suspected that criminal elements might have thrown the bomb to harm the law enforcers and to discourage them from conducting raids but, fortunately, it did not explode. The police have also nominated two suspects on behalf of the state under section-7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and ¾ of the Explosives Act.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2013.