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Azim visits H'abad bomb victims

RECORDER REPORT

HYDERABAD: The Sindh Governor, Air Marshal Mohammad Azim Daudpota (Retd), has hinted at the involvement of a neighbouring country in the Saturday's bomb blast of Hyderabad that left four persons dead and 45 others injured in a railway bogie.

He was responding to newsmen's queries at the Civil Hospital where he had arrived to see the blast victims.

Referring to recent wave of bomb blasts in Karachi and Hyderabad, the governor said that earlier bomb explosions occurred at Arambagh, City Courts and Sohrab Goth.

Regarding Saturday's blast in Hyderabad, he described it as a pre-planned act of sabotage which coincided with the day of solidarity with Kashmiri brethern. Without naming India, he said that our neighbouring country was directly involved this act of subversion.

He gave a clean bill of health to the security agencies and police when he said that police and other agencies were performing their duties to the best of their ability as they had already been on red alert.

The governor stressed the need for inculcating awareness among general public it was also the responsibility of the people to check every unattended object lying at any railway station or vehicle.

He rejected the claim that Saturday's bomb blast was a follow-up of Thursday's mock bomb explosion rehearsal that was carried out by the district administration officials almost in the same vicinity where Saturday's explosion occurred.

He asserted that the government and other agencies were performing their duties well.

About his previous press statement that people should adopt measures for their protection on their own, he said he was quoted by the press totally out of the context.

He said in fact what he really meant to say was that people must share the burden of the administration and realise their own responsibility as well.

He conceded that he was not completely satisfied with the prevailing law and order situation in the province. Nevertheless, he said, one could commit mistake because to err is human and everything was not 100 percent perfect in this world.

The governor claimed that he was seriously thinking to ask the I.G., Sindh Police, and the chief secretary to appear on television and inform people about the acts of saboteurs so that our people could also remain alert and become aware of happenings around them.

He added that the only way to contain such acts of sabotage was vigilance which is to be observed not only by the police and other agencies but the people as well.

He was accompanied by Chief Secretary Zubair Ahmed Kidwai, IG Police Sindh Aftab Nabi, Commissioner Hyderabad Division Imtiaz Kazi, DIG Police Hyderabad Range Saud Ahmed and other government functionaries.

On the occasion, the chief secretary announced a compensation of Rs 100,000 for each deceased and Rs 50,000 for seriously injured. He made it clear that this compensation would be in addition to what the Railways would announce for heirs of deceased and injured.