RAWALPINDI: There have been four major attacks that took at least 20 lives and injured 40 people in the last two months but the police have failed to make any headway to arrest the culprits involved in those attacks.
Police sources said that no arrests have been made in the RA Bazaar blast, the Gracy Lane suicide blast, the killing of three cops outside an imambargah case, and a non-fatal attack on a religious leader.
RA Bazaar mayhem
According to the police, there was no significant development in the RA bazaar bomb blast that left 13 people including eight soldiers dead and injured more than 30 people.
Only one accused, Zahir Khan, an Afghan scavenger who was injured in the blast, was arrested on suspicion of involvement. However, on Saturday, the police released him as investigators could not find any proof against him.
Four other Afghans who were taken into the custody from District Headquarters Hospital, where they had gone to check on Khan have also been declared innocent. However, the police jailed them for illegally staying in the country.
Police sources said they have reconstructed the bomber’s face and sent the model to National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to try and identify him, while sample from his body have been sent to a laboratory for DNA testing.
Drive by shooting
The police are still clueless about the assailants who shot and injured schoolteacher-cum-prayer leader Nazir Hussain Imrani in Dhoke Kashmirian on January 8.
“We have been investigating but have failed to trace the culprits,” said Sadiqabad Station House Officer (SHO) Malik Allah Yar.
Racecourse Imambargah
Even after four weeks, Racecourse police are clueless on the four unknown assailants who killed constables Muhammad Irfan, Zaheer Abbas and Faheem Abbas outsides Imambargah Qasr-e-Shabeer on December 31.
“We are trying our best to trace the culprits but so far we have no leads,” said Racecourse SHO Raja Musadaq.
Gracy Lane blast
On December 17, a suicide bomber blew up in front of Asna Ashari Imambargah in the heavily-guarded Gracy Lane area killing four including two police officials.
Investigation officer Raja Saeed of the Airport police said that despite efforts, no progress has been made. “We have sent the reconstructed face to NADRA and samples for DNA testing to a lab. We will be in a position to start investigating once we get those reports,” he added.
Despite repeated attempts, Rawalpindi City Police Officer Akhtar Hayat Lalika was not available for comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2014.