Police release footage of 'suicide bomber’

Terrorist attack on Sehwan Sharif shrine, IGP says Hafeez Brohi Group may be behind attack

KARACHI - Three days have passed since the deadliest attack on one of the major shrines of Sindh took place, but the investigators are still to make any breakthrough in the case.

They were only able to trace the suspected suicide bomber with the help of a footage obtained from CCTV.

At least 90 people were killed and over 200 were injured in a suicide bombing at the shrine of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference here at his office on Sunday, Sindh IGP Allah Dino Khawaja said that the suicide bomber who blew himself up at the shrine had been identified through a footage.

The top cop, however, was not 100 percent sure about his own claim. "My department is 99 percent certain that the man caught on the video footage was the attacker," the IGP said but not with complete surety.

Sehwan police had lodged a case on Friday against a suicide bomber and unidentified persons for facilitating the incident.

Police, Rangers and intelligence agencies have also detained several suspects, including three suspected facilitators during various raids in various parts of the province.

But so far the investigators have not been able to get to the masterminds of the incident and those who played a key role in it.

The IGP told media that the attack might have been orchestrated by the same group which carried out terrorist attacks in Shikarpur and Jacobabad.

“The possibility of involvement of Hafeez Brohi Group in the incident cannot be ruled out,” he said, and added, "Brohi has a strong network of terrorism in Sindh." AD Khawaja further said that due to large crowd at the time of the blast, it had become difficult to identify the suicide bomber.

“However, investigations are underway and once completed, police will be able to arrest the culprits, including the facilitators of the terror attack,” he hoped.

The video released by Sindh police on Sunday shows the suspected suicide bomber bypassing a security check at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, and was not wearing a burqa.

The bomber struck inside the compound where a large number of devotees were performing dhamaal; a devotional dance. It is pertinent to mention here that Islamic State (IS) had claimed responsibility for the attack.

 

 

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