Tragedy averted: Car packed with explosives seized in Karachi

BDS official said that the car was packed with 400kg of materials, including 120kg of explosives.

KARACHI: The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Sindh Police along with security agencies seized a car rigged with at least 120 kilogrammes of explosive materials on Maripur Road on Thursday evening.

According to CID’s crime interrogation unit In-charge Mazhar Mashwani, the explosives were packed in oxygen cylinders, pressure cooker and tin-containers in the car were rigged to blow using a remote controlled device.

Bomb disposal squad expert told The Express Tribune that the Vehicle Based Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) weighed 400 kgs in total with around 120 kg of it being explosives.

“The IED was ready to explode and would have had the same intensity as the Abbas town blast,” he said adding that the explosives and ball bearings were kept inside a pressure cooker, a tin-container and with two oxygen tanks. The electronics were supported by four detonators and were ready to be used with a remote control.

“They [the militants] brought the Suzuki van to attack SHO Shafiq Tanoli but they could not get him,” said Mashwani.

The CID also claimed arresting two suspects from the van. The white colour Suzuki van belonged to a charitable organisation and had been snatched on February 9, from Sachal area.

Police hinted that the group responsible for this explosive laden vehicle could also have had a hand in the Abbas Town blast which had claimed 50 lives. The police announced that in separate raids, they had arrested five more suspects from Shah Latif town.