NOWSHERA/KOHAT, May 24: The vehicle of the provincial chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) was destroyed completely when an improvised explosive device went off in it here on Thursday.

Police said that unidentified persons might have planted the bomb in the car of JUI-S provincial chief Maulana Yousaf Shah in the night. The bomb was detected in the car when it was taken in the morning to a nearby service station. The driver informed police and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) but the bomb exploded before the officials reached there.

The JUI-S provincial chief, who is also a close friend of party chief Maulana Samiul Haq, was the apparent target.

Later, BDS personnel collected evidence from the site of the blast. They said that two to three kilograms of explosives were used in the blast.

Maulana Shah told journalists that the people, who kidnapped and later killed Maulana Naseeb Khan Wazir, were involved in the act of terrorism.

He alleged that some hidden hands were trying to target leaders of Defa-i-Pakistan Council and Darul Uloom Haqania.

He said that they could not be frightened by such tactics. “We will continue our efforts for supremacy of Islam and defence of our motherland,” the JUI-S leader added.

The Akora Khattak police station registered a case against unidentified persons and started investigation.

Meanwhile, one tribesman was killed and five persons were injured seriously in a bomb attack on a passenger vehicle in Ghulam Banda near the semi-autonomous tribal area of Kohat on Thursday.

The bomb was planted at a bicycle that was parked along the Kohat-Shindand Road. It was a remote controlled device, which went off as soon as the vehicle reached the place where the bicycle was parked, sources said.

A passenger identified as Khan Mohammad was killed on the spot while Noor Mohammad, Jalat Khan, Mohammad Nawaz and Shahid Mahmood were injured in the blast.Police and volunteers rushed the injured to KDA divisional headquarters hospital. The Bomb Disposal Squad collected evidence from the scene.