KARACHI - As many as five suspected militants were wounded in a bomb blast in their van at Nazimabad locality.
According to details, the incident occurred near Musarrat Colony, Nazimabad No 2, in the Rizvia police precincts on Wednesday night. Police said as the suspected militants reached near a cinema, some explosive material exploded in their car and fear and panic engulfed the area. Following the blast, rescuers from different welfare associations reached the site and shifted the injured to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
Police also reached the site and initially termed it a cylinder blast, but the bomb disposal squad declared it was a bomb blast inside the van after inspecting the site and the vehicle.
Following the report of the bomb disposal squad, police took the injured into custody on suspicion. The police said the explosion was caused by a Chinese cracker. They added all the five people (residents of Sohrab Goth), travelling in the vehicle, have been taken into custody.
He added that the suspects might have belonged to a militant outfit and might have intended to carry out an attack on the cinema.
In their initial statements, they told the police that they were on their way to the cinema to watch a movie.
Separately, a low-intensity explosion took place on MA Jinnah Road. Following the explosion, police reached the site. One person was also wounded in the explosion. He was shifted to Civil Hospital for medical treatment. There were reports that unidentified armed motorcyclists threw a hand grenade inside Capri Cinema. The police concerned, however, said that there was no attack on the cinema.