 The question bothering investigators working on Friday’s suicide attack in Peshawar is why the bomber had his original identity card, Rs 700 and a telephone diary in his pocket at the time of the attack. “Why would a suicide bomber need these things when he is out to hit his target?” is the question that investigators are trying to answer.
| "It was a genuine ID card. Who the hell carries a genuine ID card in Pakland? I didn't even know there were any!" |
For now, they have apparently narrowed down their investigation to an Afghan prayer leader of the mosque where the bomber, Nadeem, spent the night before the attack. Imam Maullah Jan and one of his three sons are still in police custody, whereas the two brothers and father of the bomber, who were arrested soon after the blast along with Jan, were released on Friday. The mosque has been sealed, and Jan’s family has shifted to an unknown location. “All their things are still in the house, but they locked it and took the women and children to an undisclosed location,” said Sahibzada, the owner of the house.
Ali Shah, one of Nadeem’s brothers, told Daily Times his father, brother and he were interrogated by security agencies for some time and then “we were released because we did not have much to tell about the incident”. Ali claimed Nadeem had spent four months with a tablighi group, but investigators said that Ali had not been able to answer certain questions, which suggested that Nadeem “went somewhere else, most probably a training camp”.
| That's assuming there's a difference between a tablighi group and a training camp. |
“It was the last thing I expected of my son,” said Nadeem’s father Sarzameen, adding that Nadeem had been receiving telephone calls about which he did not tell anybody anything. Intelligence agencies have been looking for clues in the Pishtakhara area to find out about the names and numbers listed in Nadeem’s diary. |