Karachi: BDS defuse live mortar shells found in Defence

KARACHI: The bomb disposal squad defused two mortar shells which were found at a road in Karachi’s posh Defence Housing Society area two days ago, officials said.

According to sources, the accused had placed the shells to press for their demand of extortion money from the owner of a petrol pump.

The mortar shells were defused with the assistance of Pakistan Army, BDS officials said.

The shells were found at a roadside near Do Darya in Defence Phase-VIII on Tuesday night, which were transferred to a ground to defuse them. The experts defused the shells with controlled blasts, officials said.

Due to lack of required equipment the process take long time. The BDS sought help from the army, which provided the required equipment to defuse the mortar shells.

These live mortar shells were likely to be used in a terrorism incident in the city, police sources said. The unidentified terrorists, however, left the shells on the roadside out of the fear of arrest, they further said.

Progress in investigation

Investigation sources have claimed an important development in the investigation of recovery of mortar shells from Defence area of Karachi.

According to sources, the accused had placed the shells to press for their extortion demand from the owner of a petrol pump. The pump was said to be the property of a police officer.

The extortionists had telephoned to demand the protection money from the owner. The phone call came from Balochistan and the investigators are tracing the caller, sources said.

The parts of the defused shell have been sent to the forensic lab for tests, sources added.