After ‘establishing’ that the attack on Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chaudhry Aslam’s residence was not a suicide attack, the security agencies involved in the blast investigations are looking into several other possibilities Sources in the intelligence agencies told Pakistan Today that the attack bore many similarities with the Ashura blast of December 2009; the Karsaz blast at the welcoming caravan of Benazir Bhutto on October 18, 2007; and the attack on the leadership of Sunni Tehreek at Nishtar Park on 12th Rabiul Awal in 2006. All the three attacks were initially declared suicide bombings but with the passage of time it was disclosed that these blasts were planted and pre-planned.
“The investigators are looking into different possibilities and Interior Minister Rehman Malik has also said that the attack on the Crime Investigation Department officer was not a suicide bomb blast,” they said. “Investigations have led the intelligence agencies to believe that the attack was not a suicide attack and the explosives were planted in the vehicle as several technical similarities have been found among the blasts at the SSP’s house, the Ashura blast and the Karsaz explosion.
“The premier intelligence agencies of the country are working on the similarities [among the three blasts] and collecting proofs. All the suspects arrested in the said cases are being interrogated again to collect information and any clues leading to the attack at Aslam’s house,” the sources said.
They further claimed that some important clues have been collected and the case would be ‘solved in the near future’.
The sources told Pakistan Today that some of the police officers being investigated have political affiliations and are creating problems [for the investigators]. “Some members in the team of SSP Aslam may also be interrogated as they have political affiliations.”
“The intelligence agencies have suggested the high-ups for arresting some police personnel for interrogation,” the sources claimed. “All evidences gathered from the site of the blast have been to the laboratory for proper examination.”
Meanwhile, another controversy was raised after the statement of Sindh Inspector General of Police that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the surrounding of the senior police official’s house were not working at the time of the blast.
“Another point is that the CCTV cameras were not working despite the SSP being the top-most target for militants. It raises the question that who ordered to switch off the cameras,” an investigator said.
“Now the intelligence agencies are working on the possibilities of involvement of other terrorist organisations as smaller groups cannot manage such an attempt and arrange explosives in such a huge amount,” the sources added.
It is worth nothing that the intelligence agencies of the country had earlier warned the government of a suicide bomb attack in Karachi on September 18 or 19 and that a vehicle packed with explosives would be used in the bombing. It was also said that suicide bombers were present in the financial hub of the country and even that the attack would be made early morning from about 6 am to 9 am.
