DADU, Feb 15 Initial investigation into Sunday's blast here at New Chowk has suggested that it was caused by a planted bomb and not by suicide bombing.

A team started probe into the blast on Monday.

RPO of Hyderabad Fayaz Ahmed Leghari has constituted the team led by DIG of Hyderabad Tahir Naveed. Its members are DPO of Dadu Ghazi Salahuddin, SP investigation Dadu Khalid Mustafa Korai, SP CID Zulfiqar Junejo and SP of the Special Branch of Hyderabad Mohammad Ali Baloch.

They visited the crime scene and collected evidences and splinters of the material used in the blast.

Early in the morning, DPO Salahuddin and the SP of CID visited the damaged shops and collected pieces of the material. At 11am, a team led by SP Korai visited the spot.DPO Salahuddin said that information collected from the spot suggested that it was a planted bomb. But it would be confirmed only after complete investigation.

To a question, he said that the bomb was lying on road and that the team was collecting more evidences.

Answering a question about a suspect arrested from the spot on Sunday, the DPO said that he was being interrogated but declined to share information and identify the arrested suspect.

SP Korai said that the blast had caused a two-feet deep crater on the road. The investigation team also conducted a survey of the shops damaged in the explosion.

Meanwhile, a six-member team of the law enforcement agencies visited the spot, collected particles used in the bomb and left for Karachi.

Meanwhile, Dadu police released owner of Marvi hotel and district vice-president of the PML-N Mohammad Usman Jamali. He was arrested on Sunday evening when police got information that the suspect arrested from the spot and his accomplice had stayed in his hotel.

On the complaint of SHO Dadu, an FIR under sections 440,427, 324, 302 PPC, 3 Explosive Act 6/7 ATA was lodged at town police station against unidentified terrorists. On the call of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and Citizens Action Committee, a shutter-down strike was observed in Dadu on Monday.

Activists of the JSQM, JSSF, PPP-SB and shopkeepers took out a procession which after marching on roads reached the press club and held a demonstration.

Abdul Sattar Edhi arrived at the civil hospital and met injured persons and handed over Rs8,000 each to injured.

He offered all kind of medical facilities to the injured.

Minister of State for Food and Agriculture Rafiq Ahmed Jamali also visited the hospital and met the injured.

The affected shopkeepers started removing debris on Monday from the blast spot.

Owner of a shop of electrical appliances, Maqbool Ahmed Babbur said that the bomb had exploded at five feet from his shop and he and two employees had been injured in the blast.