Mominabad police station survives two bombing attempts

Both bombs were discovered from different spots at the station within a span of eight hours.

KARACHI: Two attempts to blow up the Mominabad police station, approximately eight hours apart from each other, were foiled by the law enforcers on Sunday.

The first attempt came to light late on Saturday night when residents alerted the police to a suspicious object placed adjacent to the boundary wall of the Mominabad police station, located in Orangi Town. "We came to know about the presence of the bomb after residents informed us that two motorcyclists had thrown a suspicious object and fled," SHO Zahid Shah told The Express Tribune. "Upon inspection, we found that the object was a bomb wrapped in a blanket."

Subsequently, the bomb disposal squad (BDS) was summoned whose officials managed to defuse the bomb after working on it for half an hour. The bomb comprised ball bearings, weighed approximately five kilogrammes and was connected to a remote-control device.

The police immediately vacated the police station and the inmates were shifted to other locations.

Approximately eight hours later, law enforcement personnel found another bomb from the bushes outside the police station. "We were cutting the bushes as an added security measure when we found another bomb, early in the morning," said a duty officer. "This bomb was wrapped in a shirt."

Upon discovery of the second bomb, the BDS was summoned to the site again. "This device was similar to the previous one which suggests that both bombs were made by same person," a BDS official told The Express Tribune, on the condition of anonymity. "The second device was also remote-controlled."

The discovery of a second bomb has raised questions regarding the security arrangements at the station. District West SSP Irfan Baloch, however, refuted the claims that the security was lax at the police station. "Our investigation suggests that both bombs were planted at the same time," he told The Express Tribune. He added that a number of security measures had been taken to protect the police station. These include increasing the height of the boundary walls and erecting barricades around the station.

Parts of district West, particularly Orangi Town and Manghopir, are notorious for being militant strongholds. There have been several attacks on law enforcers in these areas while a number of militants have also been arrested in targeted raids.

Previous attacks

A few months ago, unidentified motorcyclists hurled a hand grenade in front of the police station and later detonated a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) near it. Police had claimed that militants of a banned outfit were behind the attack. "These attacks are a reaction to our targeted raids," claimed SSP Baloch. "Mominabad and Pirabad police stations have been targeted several times as they are playing an effective role against militants." 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2014.