Lahore bomber intended to attack police van or top official, investigative report suggests

IG Punjab and Punjab home minister submitted initial report to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif

LAHORE: An initial investigative report of the Lahore blast was submitted on Wednesday to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Express News reported.

As per the investigative report submitted by IG Punjab Mushtaq Sukhera and Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada, the bomber and his accomplices inspected the site of the blast hours before the explosion.

“The bomber intended to attack a police van or a top police official,” the report further stated.

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the police headquarters here on Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring 26 others. A splinter group of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for what it called a “reprisal attack for the execution of its activists."



RELATED: Suicide bomber kills five outside police HQ in Lahore



The bomber struck just metres away from the entrance to the Police Lines on Empress Road in the heart of the city. The provincial police chief confirmed the Police Lines was the intended target. “The bomber wanted to enter the Police Lines but exploded prematurely,” IG Mushtaq Sukhera told reporters.

After failing to get into the Police Lines, the bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body in front of a nearby multi-storey plaza housing the offices of travel agencies. The fatalities include a sub inspector and an assistant sub inspector, while most of the injured are civilians – women and children among them.