KARACHI, 16 June — Police yesterday intensified their investigation into a devastating bomb attack on the US Consulate here which killed 11 people and injured more than 50, a spokesman told reporters. Although a small high-roofed Suzuki van was initially believed to be carrying the bomb, police now believe it could have been a Toyota Corolla owned by a local driving school that was blown to pieces in the blast.
A bomb could have been planted in the vehicle, perhaps unbeknown to the female driving instructor and three women passengers, and detonated by remote control as it passed the consulate here on Friday, police sources said.
“Without ruling out a suicide attempt, we are now also working on the option of remote control device usage,” said the home secretary of southern Sindh province, Brig. Mukhtar Sheikh.
Police have so far interrogated over 600 persons, including six students of a religious seminary, in connection with the attack. A 35-member team of experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which had arrived here earlier in the morning, has taken charge of the probe. The experts’ first action was to re-enact the drama at the scene of the incident.
FBI officials refused details of the progress made by them, but a senior police official confirmed that search was on for a 60-year-old lady, Rizwan Khatoon, instructor at the Khanum Driving Institute. Her house was found locked, and her telephone did not answer.
Police said they were looking into registration records of the cars which had to be abandoned in front of the consulate after the blast. “We tried to contact the lady (Rizwan) on telephone but there was no response,” said the officer, adding that the lady had gone with three student drivers in a car owned by the training school.
“It is possible she may have been killed but we have so far no confirmation. We know that the three female students, Rehana Perveen, Nida Nazir and Nazish Karim, perished in the tragedy, but so far there is no trace of the old lady.”
A senior police investigator said the owner of the Khanum Driving Institute, Meraj Khanum, was interrogated for several hours Friday. “We called Meraj Khanum to find out about the car, when and where it went and whether it was being followed by another car, as we are now keeping all options opened from suicide to the remote control bomb,” he said.
