Disaster averted: BDU defuses bomb outside lawyer’s residence
Legal fraternity demands joint investigation, announces protest
File photo of a bomb disposal squad official. PHOTO: ONLINE / FILE
PESHAWAR:
The bomb disposal unit (BDU) defused a home-made explosive device planted near the main gate of a senior lawyer’s house in Phase III, Hayatabad on Monday night. The house belonged to Awami National Party leader and lawyer Abdul Latif Afridi and his son Danish Afridi, who later lodged a complaint with the Hayatabad police.
Danish said he had heard a small blast as he and his father entered the house in separate vehicles. “Although the detonator went off, the device didn’t,” he stated in the police report.
Danish said he immediately informed the police who called BDU officials to defuse the device. Further investigation into the incident is under way.
A united front
The legal fraternity asked the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday to form a joint investigation team to probe the planting of a bomb outside Latif Afridi’s residence. Latif is also the provincial president of the ANP-affiliated Malgari Wakeelan.
Lawyers from the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, Peshawar Bar Association and others held an emergency meeting to condemn the act. Gathering at the PHC bar room, the lawyers passed a resolution calling for the suspension of the Hayatabad police station staff. They demanded police officials also be included in the investigation.
The lawyers boycotted high court proceedings on Tuesday and the legal fraternity of the lower courts decided to go on strike on Wednesday across the province. Former PHCBA president Ishtiaq Ibrahim told participants it was the government’s responsibility to ensure the security of lawyers, particularly senior members of the fraternity. They also asked for legal steps to ensure such incidents are not repeated.
Latif has been affiliated with ANP for many years and belongs to Khyber Agency. He has been elected president of the PHCBA four times and was also a member of the National Assembly on the NA-46 seat in 1997.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2015.
The bomb disposal unit (BDU) defused a home-made explosive device planted near the main gate of a senior lawyer’s house in Phase III, Hayatabad on Monday night. The house belonged to Awami National Party leader and lawyer Abdul Latif Afridi and his son Danish Afridi, who later lodged a complaint with the Hayatabad police.
Danish said he had heard a small blast as he and his father entered the house in separate vehicles. “Although the detonator went off, the device didn’t,” he stated in the police report.
Danish said he immediately informed the police who called BDU officials to defuse the device. Further investigation into the incident is under way.
A united front
The legal fraternity asked the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday to form a joint investigation team to probe the planting of a bomb outside Latif Afridi’s residence. Latif is also the provincial president of the ANP-affiliated Malgari Wakeelan.
Lawyers from the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, Peshawar Bar Association and others held an emergency meeting to condemn the act. Gathering at the PHC bar room, the lawyers passed a resolution calling for the suspension of the Hayatabad police station staff. They demanded police officials also be included in the investigation.
The lawyers boycotted high court proceedings on Tuesday and the legal fraternity of the lower courts decided to go on strike on Wednesday across the province. Former PHCBA president Ishtiaq Ibrahim told participants it was the government’s responsibility to ensure the security of lawyers, particularly senior members of the fraternity. They also asked for legal steps to ensure such incidents are not repeated.
Latif has been affiliated with ANP for many years and belongs to Khyber Agency. He has been elected president of the PHCBA four times and was also a member of the National Assembly on the NA-46 seat in 1997.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2015.