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Thursday March 28, 2024

Police working to identify bomber, his facilitators

LAHOREPolice have started investigation into the Police Lines Qila Gujjar Singh suicide attack, mainly on six aspects to identify the bomber, arrest his facilitators and break their handlers’ network.Senior officers of Lahore Police including the CCPO, DIG Operations, SSP Investigation, SP CIA and other investigators visited the crime scene on

By Arshad Dogar
February 19, 2015
LAHORE
Police have started investigation into the Police Lines Qila Gujjar Singh suicide attack, mainly on six aspects to identify the bomber, arrest his facilitators and break their handlers’ network.
Senior officers of Lahore Police including the CCPO, DIG Operations, SSP Investigation, SP CIA and other investigators visited the crime scene on Wednesday, reconstructed the attack scene and discussed possibilities of the access of the suicide bomber to the place.
The crime scene was still cordoned off as experts of Punjab Forensic Science Agency collected further evidence. The relevant authorities also assessed the loss of vehicles and properties. Only one side of the Empress Road was opened to vehicular traffic on the second day of the attack while visitors and policemen were thoroughly frisked before their entry to the Lines.
A special police team has also been constituted under the supervision of SP CIA Umar Virk and DSP CIA Tariq Kayani to conduct thorough investigation into the incident.
A senior police officer, privy to the development, told this correspondent that police were watching CCTV footages of security cameras installed at Police Lines and adjacent buildings to identify the suicide bomber. He said that they would also watch CCTV footages of previous days to ascertain the way the terrorists surveyed the Police Lines.
The police officer said that the investigators would also examine the accounts of eyewitnesses, vendors and employees of local offices to help develop the sketch of the terrorist.
Police are also scrutinizing policemen working or staying at police lines through geo-fencing and their affiliation with religious organizations, he said. To a question, the officer said that they have yet to make a breakthrough in the investigation into inside help.
The investigation team has also been tasked to check footages of broadcast media and photographs of print media to examine activities of suspects following the attack, he said.
Parallel to other investigation, he said the police had preserved the remains of the bomber for DNA tests. Only legs and hair of the attacker were recovered from the spot as the bomber had adopted a new technique to hide his identity. He bowed himself ahead so that his complete torso could explode. However, the DNA can help identify the attacker from any part of his body, he said.
Another important aspect on which the investigators have started working is the affiliation of the suicide bomber with the terrorists involved in Wagah Border carnage. Police would check whether the bomber had a connection with the Roohullah Group of the banned outfit or he belonged to some other splinter group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The police would also seek help from intelligence agencies during the investigation. A comprehensive crackdown was also launched in the provincial metropolis soon after the attack to arrest the facilitators of the bomber and dozens of suspects had been taken into custody.
The FIR registered on the complaint of the Qila Gujjar Singh SHO states three suspected terrorists reached close to the Police Lines from the railway station on foot. Two of them managed to flee from the scene by taking advantage of a stampede following the blast.
Moreover, an unknown blast victim has been identified as Nadeem, son of Mumtaz, a resident of Chak No. 173/9L, Chichawatni tehsil, Sahiwal. SP Civil Lines, Imtiaz Sarwar said that Nadeem was a candidate for the post of electrician in Lahore Police and he was at the Lines for an interview. The serial number of his application was 4201 and his registration number at CPO was 3955.
However, nine of injured victims were discharged from Ganga Ram and Mayo hospitals, respectively. The condition of two injured people was stated to be critical.
Meanwhile, CCPO Amin Wains told reporters at the crime scene police would utilize all resources to identify the suicide bomber and arrest his facilitators. He said that police would probe the incident in league with all law enforcement agencies. He resolved to fight terrorism for the protection of lives and properties of citizens. He also urged cooperation from citizens to bust the local network of terrorists.