LAHORE, Jan 10: The mutilated limbs of the alleged suicide bomber, who blew himself outside the Lahore High Court building on Thursday, were sent to three different places to determine his identity, police officials told Dawn.

“We have collected half head-cum-face, two legs, hair, teeth and nails of the bomber and sent them for plastic surgery, face reconstruction, autopsy and DNA test,” DIG (Investigation) Chaudhry Tassaduq Husain, who is heading the investigation team, told Dawn.

He said different sketches were being prepared through different angles for publication in the media. He said the bomber, who supported beard, only targeted the policemen deployed outside the LHC for law and order duty.

“At least three police reserves, comprising 60 policemen, were present there with barriers guarding them as a part of pre-emptive strategy when the bomber appeared there and blew himself,” he said. Had there been no barricades, he said, more policemen would have become the victims.

The DIG said the bomber’s head was sent to the plastic surgery department of the King Edward Medical College University for reconstruction while some samples were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for autopsy. Half of the head’s surgery was completed, according to the police officer.

He further said the DNA test of teeth, nails, hair and blood were sent to the National Centre of Excellence for Molecular Biology of the Punjab University, which was the only lab of its kind in the city.

SSP (Operations) Aftab Ahmad Cheema quoted the bomb disposal squad officials as saying the explosives were locally made and had 14kg weight, including 3kg metal pieces. “The bomber, who was in a track suit, took advantage of the rush and hit the barricades and police officials,” he said.

According to home secretary Khusro Pervez, the suicide bomber seemed to be an Afghan and had long hair.

Police sources claimed that the police had no authentic report of entry of suicide bombers in the city in the recent days. “The wave is countrywide and it is impossible to stop it. But what the police can do is take precautionary measures like vigilance and increase security to prevent themselves and important government installations from the bombers,” they said.

Soon after the incident, top police officials, forensic experts, officials of special investigation group of FIA and Anti-Terrorist Cell of CIA and CRO department of capital city police reached the spot, collected evidence, recorded statements of the witnesses and prepared sketches of the crime scene.

The crime scene was preserved for several hours and no one was allowed to enter the place.

INQUIRY TEAM: A seven-member investigation team, led by DIG (Investigation) Tassaduq Husain, was constituted to probe the incident.