Bomb squad favours samosas over search
Thursday, May 10, 2007
KARACHI: An eleven-member team from the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) squad sent to investigate a bomb threat at the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) on Wednesday, preferred to feast on a plate of samosas instead of looking for a bomb.
The squad caught hold of a plate of samosas at the SHCBA café and decided to have a “samosa break” instead of looking for probable bombs. Some senior SHCBA members saw this and berated the team. “What if there really is a bomb and it goes off while you’re sitting here,” they said. This led to a war of words between a DSP, a samosa-loving BDS sepoy and SHCBA members, Moin Azhar Siddiqui and Ziauddin Nasir (who is also a former standing counsel for the federal government).
One of the policemen threatened the bar members. “You are only 2,000 or so lawyers. We’ll deal with you,” he was quoted as saying by a bar member. Nasir later said that the BDS people appeared suspiciously calm and relaxed. Had there been a real threat, they would have traditionally behaved quite aggressively.
The squad had been called in after a phone call was received by the authorities in the afternoon. The caller spoke about a bomb on the SHCBA premises. Judges were informed and cases were adjourned, the building was evacuated, and the BDS, ambulances, a fire tender and the police rushed to the building.
The ill-equipped BDS team, carrying only handheld metal detectors, searched all three floors of the main building and then had a look at the motorcycles in the parking lot. The SHC, in the meantime, was rife with all sorts of rumours. Some claimed that the bomb threat was a prelude to the CJP’s May 12 rally in Karachi. Some others said that it was aimed at stalling court proceedings, so that the petition filed by Muneer A Malik against the sealing of his office could not be heard or dealt with.
The hoax call was aimed at paralysing the judiciary, SHCBA President Abrar Hasan said. “Whoever is responsible for this deplorable act should know that nobody can stop us from going forward with the May 12 programme,” he said. “It was a conspiracy to affect lawyers’ programmes. We are anticipating similar threats and more lawlessness on May 12, as well as earlier and later.” KBA President Iftikhar Javed Qazi said that lawyers would not be subdued by cheap tactics such as bomb hoaxes. ar qureshi
Nice to hear the country is ready for any eventualities and on high alert. One of the reasons why Pakistan hasn’t seen a single bomb blast in the country since 27 Ramadan 1366.