MULTAN: An anti-terrorist judge was wounded and three policemen were killed when a remote-controlled bomb attached to a bicycle exploded in Multan on Friday, said police. Judge Bashir Ahmed Bhatti, who often hears cases against Islamic militants suspected terrorists, was among nine people injured by the blast around 100 metres away from the court building at around 8:50am, said district police chief Munir Ahmed Chishti. APP reported that 11 people were injured in the attack. AP quoted the city police chief as saying that Bhatti was travelling to his court when the bomb went off. The blast wrecked the front end of the car believed to be the judgeÂ’s and left blood stains on the seats and the ground, said an AFP reporter from the scene of the attack. A police van was almost destroyed.
| “A bomb of high intensity was planted on a bicycle in front of a basketball stadium near the court, and it exploded as the car of the special anti-terrorism court judge passed." |
An injured policeman later died at a local hospital, said doctor Fahim Javed at Nishtar Hospital, bringing the death toll to three. He said that the three wounded policemen were in critical condition. He identified two of the three people who died as Mohammed Iqbal and Ijaz Ahmed. AP quoted Javed as saying that Bhatti was in critical condition, but APP quoted the Nishtar Hospital medical superintendent as saying that the judgeÂ’s condition was stable.
Police cordoned off the area following the attack, and bomb disposal squad officers collected evidence and fragments of the bomb. “It was a locally made high-intensity device,” said a bomb disposal officer. The bomb was thought to have been detonated by remote control, said regional police chief Mohammad Ali. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Mirza Mohammed Ali, another police officer, said Bhatti was hearing the case of Malik Ishaq, a leader of the outlawed Sunni Muslim militant group, Sipah-e-Sihaba, which is implicated in sectarian attacks against Shias. Ishaq was arrested two years ago, and was accused of killing several Shias, said Mohammed Ali, although he had no details of the charges against the suspect. Chishti said that Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had announced that Rs 500,000 would be given as financial assistance to the families of the dead policemen.