PESHAWAR: No evidence of terrorism and militancy was found in the blasts inside the police station of Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Swat, according to a report submitted by the fact-finding committee.

The fact-finding committee, formed following blasts inside CTD police station in Swat, has submitted its report to the government, saying no evidence of sabotage was found in the explosions.

Officials told this scribe that a lesser known militant group, which recently came into the limelight, claimed responsibility for the CTD police station blasts in Swat. However, the fact-finding committee comprising secretary of home and tribal affairs and deputy inspector general of special branch of police visited the blast site and ruled out possibility of any militant attack on the police station, they added.

Sources didn’t say what triggered the incident, adding the detailed report will bare it all.

On April 25, two powerful explosions inside the CTD police station left 18 persons dead and leaving 57 injured including police officials and civilians. The roofs of the CTD office, the police station and the nearby mosque also collapsed in the incident.

Fact-finding committee submits report, rules out possibility of attack on the CTD facility from outside

On the same day, home and tribal affairs department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa constituted the fact-finding committee to probe the nature of blasts with the direction to submit a comprehensive report covering all aspects of the incident.

“A detailed report has been submitted and there is no evidence of a vehicle-borne or a suicide blast inside the CTD police station in Kabal, Swat district. No militant factor is involved in it,” sources privy to the developments told Dawn.

They said militants always wanted more damage including loss of life and property. For that reason, militants always used ball bearings, shrapnel or any other lethal material but the fact-finding committee did not find even a single ball bearing or its signs at the site, they added.

Sources, who requested anonymity keeping in view sensitive nature of the issue, said that the team visited the blast site and found that there was no impact of ball bearings on the damaged buildings.

“To the naked eye, there is no evidence of vehicle-borne or suicide blast. Even the gates of the buildings are intact as per the report,” they said.

When asked if the team found anything related to negligence on part of those, who had to handle the explosives dumped inside the police station, they said that it wasn’t possible to say anything about it as there was nothing left.

“The room where the explosive material was kept and its attachments are all gone,” they said. They added that it was evident that the explosives placed in the Malkhana as case property caused the explosions.

The explosions, which reportedly occurred on the premises of CTD office, shattered the roof of the police station, the office, and a mosque located inside the station. The blasts also caused fire. According to senior officials, at least 20 policemen were trapped under the debris of the roof, which collapsed due to the intensity of the explosion.

On April 26, Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan told journalists that the blasts occurred after rocket-propelled grenades, mines and other arms seized in different cases and stored in the warehouse went off owing to short-circuiting of electricity.

On the same day, a preliminary investigation carried out by the police department into the twin blasts found that the explosions were caused by an electricity short-circuit at the warehouse and ruled out the possibility of a militant attack on the CTD police station.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023