As a judge from the special court was en route to the prison to preside over the cipher case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, he happened to stumble upon 1,200 grams of explosives tied to a homemade detonator in Gorakhpur, near Adiala Jail.
This discovery caused panic in the garrison city on Tuesday. According to the police, the explosive device was found in an open area close to a nearby candy store, approximately five kilometers from the jail. After noticing the suspicious materials, a laborer from the Pashtun community informed the police. Upon the arrival of the police squad, the said device was seized and transported to the Adiala Jail police station.
Upon learning about the explosive substance, experts from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Civil Defense, the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), a specialized bomb disposal van, police officers, and high-ranking intelligence agency officers arrived at the location. Following the Explosive Substances Act of 1908, the CTD police initiated an undercover investigation into unidentified suspects. A police officer at the Adiala checkpoint took the device to an open space about 600 feet from the jail, placing it in a polythene bag. However, as he walked away, the bag tore, causing the explosives to fall to the ground. This incident occurred in front of the media.
Using the same shopping bag, the policeman picked up the device once again. With it in hand, he carried it to the designated location and placed it on top of a concrete building. About fifteen minutes later, ASP Zainab Ayub arrived at the scene. She instructed the reporters to maintain a cordon around the area and declined to comment. The Civil Defense Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) arrived with their explosive detection van approximately two hours later. They waited for approximately fifteen minutes before announcing that they had successfully disarmed the explosives. According to their commander, the explosive substance was active and weighed 1,200 kg. There was a significant police presence on-site. Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain chose an alternate route to reach Kutchery Chow, Adiala Jail, due to the potential lethality of the bomb.
It is concerning how the local police and authorities handled the discovery of the explosives and the careless manner in which they were transported, especially in light of the recent wave of terrorist attacks that have rocked the nation. Among these attacks was an ambitious strike over the weekend, claiming the lives of nine terrorists at an air force facility in Mianwali. A militant ambush of two security force trucks in Gwadar the day before resulted in the deaths of at least 14 troops. Early on Tuesday, in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an attack targeted workers guarding the camp of an oil and gas exploration business, resulting in the deaths of two policemen and injuries to three others.
