Our Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: At least one policeman was martyred and six others including four policemen and two civilians were injured in a suicide blast involving a taxi in Pakistan capital’s I-10/4 Sector on Friday morning.
According to initial reports, the policemen had stopped a suspicious taxi for checking when the explosion happened. According to the police, the taxi had explosive material in it.
Later, police said that it was a suicide blast. The slain cop was identified as Adeel Hussain while the identity of the injured policemen and the two civilians could not be ascertained.
According to police, as police personnel stopped the taxi for search, it exploded all at a sudden, which left a policeman dead and three others injured.
Police said that the bomb disposable squad has arrived at the scene which had been cordoned off after the blast.
After the bomb blast, security was beefed up in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Police DIG’s version on blast
Later talking to the media, Islamabad Police DIG Sohail Zafar Chatta said that the police personnel had stopped the car during a routine check-up when the blast occurred.
The police officer said that the policemen sought to search the suspicious taxi with a man and woman on board.
He said that the man and the woman came out as the police checked the vehicle. He said that the suspect went inside the taxi under a pretext and detonated himself. The suicide bomber was killed in the blast while the taxi was completely damaged in the blast.
According to police, the vehicle (LEI-17) used in the Islamabad bomb blast is registered in the name Sajjad Haider Shah. The car owner Rana Sadat is a resident of Chakwal. The 1991 model car was re-issued number in 2017.
Chattha said a police cop of the Eagle Squad was martyred in the suicide blast and others were injured. He said that the injured policemen and civilians were shifted to the hospital.
Later in a statement, the Islamabad police said that the blast was suicide attack and around 20 kilograms of explosives were used by the bomber.
Interior minister’s statement
In a statement, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the explosive-laden taxi with a man and a woman on board entered Islamabad from Rawalpindi via IJ Principal Road.
He said that the explosive-laded taxi had been dispatched to single out “a high-value target” in Islamabad.He said that the dutiful policemen thwarted a big tragedy in the federal capital by sacrificing their lives.
Rana Sannaullah said that a “martyred package” would be announced for the martyred cop Adeel Hussain.
