A POWERFUL car bomb exploded outside the house of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and banned Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief, Hafiz Saeed, in Lahore on Wednesday (23), killing at least three people and injuring 21 others.
The blast took place at a police picket outside Saeed's residence in Jauhar town, resulting in serious injuries to some police officers guarding his house. The windows and walls of Saeed's house were damaged from the impact of the blast, Pakistani media reported.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
There could have been a "major loss" had there been no police picket outside the house of the high-profile personality, inspector general of police (Punjab) Inam Ghani said, referring to Saeed.
The radical cleric has been serving a jail sentence at the high-security Kot Lakhpat prison in Lahore for terror financing.
"Explosive material was installed in the car. There was a police picket outside the high-value target's house. The car could not cross the police picket," Ghani said, describing it as a “terror act”.
The counter-terrorism department has taken over the blast site and is investigating from all aspects, he said.
Ghani also said "hostile" intelligence agencies could be involved in the blast.
According to an initial report prepared by investigative agencies, more than 30 kg of explosives were used in the blast, Geo TV reported.
The initial report also said that "foreign-made materials" were used in the blast. It said the material had been planted into a car and the device was detonated remotely, the channel reported, citing sources.
A three-foot deep and eight-foot wide crater has been formed at the site, the report said, adding that the blast caused damage within a 100-square foot radius.
Citing witnesses, it said the windows of nearby houses and buildings were shattered in the explosion.
The injured people have been shifted to the Jinnah Hospital where the condition of six of them is said to be critical.
Saeed, 71, a UN-designated terrorist has been sentenced to 36 years of imprisonment in five terror financing cases. His punishment is running concurrently.
Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
The US department of treasury has designated Saeed as a specially designated global terrorist. He was listed under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.
Michael Gove
Jeremy Hunt
