The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Sindh police on Sunday registered an FIR following the explosion which took place a day earlier at a Mehfil-e-Milad organised by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar locality.
At least eight people, including MQM-P Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui's coordinator, were injured in the low-intensity blast that occurred near Perfume Chowk in Gulistan-e-Jauhar late on Saturday night. The injured persons were initially moved to Darul Sehat Hospital and later shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre from where they were discharged after receiving medical first aid.
The FIR No 163/18 was registered by the CTD against unidentified persons under the Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, Sections 3,4 and 5 of the Explosive Act and Section 324/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code on behalf of Sharea Faisal police official sub-inspector Javed Akhtar.
“The terrorists had planted an explosive device in the Milad’s tent, which exploded with a loud bang,” the FIR reads. “The IED [improvised explosive device] was planted with the intentions to kill and injure the people and create panic and fear among the citizens.”
The police officials earlier suspected that terrorists threw a locally made hand cracker at the Milad venue; however, the bomb disposal squad’s experts later confirmed in their report that around 300 grammes of explosive substances was used in the IED. Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Syed Kaleem Imam, during his visit to the site of the blast on Sunday, told the media that investigations regarding the explosion were under way. He added that the case was being investigated from different angles. “Karachi is a megacity and there are several groups operating here,” he said.
Responding to a query, the IGP said various criminal groups wanted to disrupt the peace of Karachi. He added that the investigators had traced the suspects involved in the Chinese consulate attack and several arrests had also been made in that regard.
Karachi has recently witnessed four major incidents of terrorism around a span of three weeks. The first incident was a bomb blast in Quaidabad in which two people were killed and ten others wounded. The second incident was the attempted attack on the Chinese Consulate General in the city in which two policemen and as many civilians lost their lives along with three terrorists, while the third incident was an explosion in a car in the Defence area.