Karachi blast that killed 42 on Muharram was not suicide attack: Pak investigators

Karachi, Jan. 5 (ANI): Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has confirmed that the Asura blast, which killed 42 people in Karachi on December 28, was not a suicide attack.

On Monday, the Pakistani investigation team stated that the bomb was planted inside a box, which had the portrait of a killed leader of a banned religious outfit.

A complete report on the blast will be submitted within two to three days, The News quoted Malik, as saying.

According to sources, investigators are now convinced that the bomb was planted, as the pieces of evidence found on the scene are scraps from a box. A steel water jug, and some nuts and bolts have also been recovered from the scene of the blast.

A portrait was pasted on the box, along with a name and verse written by hand, investigators said, adding that the nature of the blast on Ashura was different from that of suicide attacks.

C4 explosives usually result in a large blaze, with little smoke; in the Ashura blast, however, there wasn't much in the way of a blaze, but a large plume of smoke rose immediately from the epicentre, leading investigators to believe that local explosives were used, instead of C-4.

This was also proved during chemical examination of the evidence, which also showed that splinters had not been used.

Moreover, the Shahrah-e-Noor Jehan police had recovered a box, carrying a bomb, which seemed similar to the fragments of the box which was recovered after the Ashura blast. (ANI)