HARIPUR, Jan 23: A woman was killed and a boy received injuries when an explosive device went off in front of a mosque while people were offering Eid prayers in Bajeeda village in the jurisdiction of Saddar police station here on Friday morning.

Police sources however declined to accept that the woman died because of the explosion and claimed that she died of cardiac arrest which was further corroborated by the written statement of her relatives.

The explosion left a one-foot crater damaging the entrance of the victim's house and smashed windowpanes of a nearby madressah. Police had called in bomb disposal experts from Peshawar for conducting probe into the incident and arrested the injured boy for investigation official sources told Dawn.

Eyewitnesses told newsmen that people were offering Eid prayers in Jaamia Mosque when they heard an explosion. Family sources said that Kulsoom 45, wife of Bostan, was going to a neighbour's house when the explosive device went off but she died of heart attack out of fear.

She was later removed to a nearby hospital where doctors pronounced her dead while the boy who also received minor injuries mainly in lower parts of the body was identified as Mohammad Sharif, son of Mohammad Rafiq.

He was later arrested by the police for investigation. When contacted, ASP headquarters Mohammad Awais Khan said that it was locally-made explosive device weighing about 250 to 300 grams.

PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli has said that protests and demonstrations are no solution to any issue or problems faced by the masses, adds APP.

Talking to this news agency at her ancestral village Khaloo near Ghazi on Sunday, she said that people had got fed up with opposition's agitation as they knew that protests and agitations were no panacea to their problems.

The state minister said that the opposition had no agenda or issue to raise before the public. Ms Tahirkheli said that due to successful policies of the government, the democracy in the country was taking roots.

"Due to the prudent policies of the government the economy of the country is also growing and improving," she added. She said that due to policies of the government, investors' confidence had restored and investors were now coming to Pakistan. The situation, she said, had improved the economy and also created job opportunities.

She called upon people to elect honest and dedicated candidates in the forthcoming local body elections in order to make the system strong. The state minister said that for holding the local body elections in a free, fair and transparent manner, the government was utilizing all its resources. She said that the repair work on the gas pipeline had been completed and gas supply had been fully restored in the country.

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