Motorbike-borne IED defused in Karachi raid

KARACHI: The East Range police have responded timely to foil a terrorism bid by impounding a motorbike from PIB Colony that was fitted with an IED. East Range police chief DIG Amir Farooqi told The News that in view of the incoming new year and the recent attempts at disturbing the peace of Karachi, they had beefed up security in his jurisdiction, with orders for maximum patrolling and expansion of intelligence network. The DIG said that late on Saturday night, information was received by his office that some suspects were present in PIB Colony’s Karnal Basti, and that they were planning to carry out terrorism, following which he ordered a raid. He said that as the East Range police teams were cordoning off the locality, the suspects opened fire and hurled grenades on the law enforcers, who efficiently retaliated the attack. No police official was injured, but the suspects managed to escape under the cover of incessant gunfire and darkness as well as because they apparently knew how to find their way through the narrow lanes, he added. The police conducted a thorough search of the suspects’ hideout, from where they impounded a two-wheeler, in which they found a hidden IED, said the officer, adding that the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) was called on site to defuse the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED). DIG Farooqi said that after defusing the bomb, BDS officials submitted their report that stated that the suspects had used the petrol tank for the IED, filling it with five to six kilograms of explosive material. BDS officials also reported the presence of two to three kilograms of nails and nut and bolts, added Farooqi.