KARACHI: March 14: Three people were killed and six others injured in an explosion in the city’s Landhi area about two hours after Thursday night.

According to a senior police official, the explosion was caused by explosives placed in a rickshaw parked outside a cable operator’s office not far from the Quaidabad police station in New Muzaffarabad Colony. The explosives were detonated by remote control.

Earlier another police officer had said it was not clear if the blast was caused by a bomb or gas cylinder in the rickshaw because bomb disposal personnel were yet to reach the area.

The dead and injured were taken to the JPMC.

Earlier on Thursday, police claimed to have shot dead a man who was said to be involved in an attack in which Parween Rahman, a renowned social worker, was killed on Wednesday.

The man was identified as Qari Bilal, deputy chief of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and police said they had killed him during an encounter in Manghopir area.

According to them, a police team signalled a Toyota car carrying several suspects to stop, but the men opened fire on policemen and tried to escape. Police returned fire and injured one of the suspects who was later identified as Qari Bilal. He succumbed to his injuries, police said.

Separately, DIG South Shahid Hayat said at a press conference that police had arrested six TTP militants, including its Karachi chief Sher Alam Mehsud, during raids in different areas of Karachi and seized a number of arms, ammunition and explosives.

He claimed that Mehsud was one of the masterminds of the Abbas Town bomb blast in which over 50 people were killed.