LAHORE, Dec 24: A woman was killed and four other people were injured when a bomb placed in an official vehicle exploded in the premises of the Bahawalpur House (GOR-II) near a residential area reserved for government officials on Wednesday.

The explosion rocked the entire locality and damaged the boundary wall of a doctor’s house.

Farzana Bibi, 32, who was hit by a large splinter of the vehicle, died on the spot while her husband, Sanawar Masih suffered serious injuries. The couple were in an adjacent park along with their three children.

The family, from a town in Sialkot, had come to the Bahawalpur House to meet relatives. Three passersby, Muhammad Arif, Iftikhar, and Pervaiz Iqbal were injured

Officials said that the time bomb contained seven to eight kilogrammes of explosives.“I was sitting on a footpath along with my brother when the double-cabin pick-up parked a few feet away from us exploded with a bang and splinters were scattered in a wide area,” witness Riasat Pervez of Akram Park Sanda told Dawn. He said his brother was hit by a shrapnel in the ankle.

Senior Superintendent of Police Chaudhry Shafiq Ahmed told Dawn that the motive behind the attack was still to be ascertained.

He said he would not rule out the possibility of involvement of a foreign hand.

Police sources said the vehicle used in the bomb blast was the property of the Punjab Fisheries Department and had been purchased in the name of Deputy Director of Fisheries Dr Akhtar Shah.

It was stolen from Sanda on Nov 19 and a theft case was registered at the Sanda police station the same day on the complaint of driver Muhammad Fiaz.
Source: Dawn
Date:12/25/2008