GUJRANWALA/SARGODHA: Police gunned down a suspected suicide bomber as he tried to attack a police training centre in Sargodha, while a bomb explosion at a traffic police office in Gujranwala left five cops injured and scores of vehicles damaged on Thursday.
A policeman was also killed in the exchange of fire with the attacker in Sargodha. According to reports, the policeman tried to stop the man as he ran towards the ground, where around 900 young recruits were taking morning exercises.
“He was a suicide bomber but the police foiled his attempt,” the Sargodha district police officer said, adding there would have been “heavy casualties” had he succeeded in entering the training area.
He said security officials at the gate of the school ground stopped the suspect, in his early 20s, who pulled out a pistol and opened fire, killing one police officer and wounding another. A hand-grenade was also found on his corpse. “A constable on duty shot him dead. His presence of mind saved many lives,” police officer Nasir Hayat said. “The bomber apparently had full details about the morning’s drill schedule but it was just by chance that the person in charge today called off the drill about five minutes early,” Nasir added.
The police said the attack appeared to be a “continuation” of attacks on police and the Army in apparent revenge for the siege and storming of the Lal Masjid. The police said they recovered explosive material weighing 10 kgs, the suicide jacket, a pistol, hand-grenade and a Russian-made bomb from his body.
The DPO said the hair and blood sample of the attacker had been sent to Islamabad for DNA test, while information about him had been sought from the National Database and Registration Authority after taking his fingerprints.
The DPO appealed to the authorities to announce Rs 1 million compensation for the legal heirs of the dead policeman, ASI Zakaullah, and confer on him the Quaid-e-Azam Police medal. One injured was identified as Ijaz who received bullet injury in the neck. The second injured person could not be identified.
Separately, a blast at old GTS bus stand on GT road in Gujranwala left five cops injured. The explosive device was planted on a cart, carrying a sugarcane crusher near the traffic police office in the heart of the city.
It was 7:13 am when the device exploded when the traffic cops were marking their attendance. Five of them, Ashraf Saleem, Fayyaz, Jameel and Nawab Khan, received serious injuries. A van parked nearby was destroyed and two motorbike rickshaws were damaged.
The Bomb Disposal Squad collected particles of the explosive device for examination. The BDS chief said it was a high explosive device but the quantity of the gunpowder used in it was not large. The police cordoned off the area and were investigating. Addressing media persons in the evening, Gujranwala CPO Khadim Hussain Bhatti said it was a timer device wrapped in a shopping bag. He called the device as a heavy explosive bomb.
