Five people were wounded in Liaquatabad Iron Market on Saturday when a hand grenade was hurled at a shop. Police said the attack could be a reaction to the arrest of an extortionist who had been warning the market’s shopkeepers against failing to pay extortion money.
According to reports, two motorcyclists chucked the grenade at the Green Iron shop and sped off, following which the market’s shopkeepers closed their shops and protested the increasing number of crimes in the market.
Police said the attack was carried out in Liaquatabad C Area where two motorcyclists hurled a grenade at the Green Iron shop in the Iron Market.
A Bomb Disposal Squad team arrived on the scene to inspect the site of the incident, but their examination could not produce any conclusive result.
The wounded people were initially taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), and one of them was later shifted to the Aga Khan University Hospital in a precarious condition.
An ASH medico-legal officer said the injured people had suffered wounds because of nuts and bolts used in the making of the bomb.
The wounded people were identified as 20-year-old Israr Aslam Pervez, 30-year-old Muhammad Sohail, 26-year-old Rasik Ghayasuddin, 27-year-old Mukhtar Hussain, and 20-year-old Ubaid Muhammad Saleem, whose condition was said to be precarious.
Earlier, some shopkeepers had provided the police with a phone number that the extortionists were using to threaten the traders for paying extortion money.
The law enforcers traced the caller Shakir Baloch, arrested him, registered a case against him and produced him before an anti-terrorism court, which sent him to prison.
Police suspect Saturday’s Liaquatabad incident could be a reaction to Baloch’s arrest, but they also believe it is premature to link the grenade attack with Baloch’s arrest at this time.
