RAWALPINDI, Feb 29: The Punjab government has announced a Rs0.5 million reward for giving information which may lead to identify the suicide bomber who had attacked Imambargah Yadgar-i-Hussaini here on Saturday.

The reward was announced by the Punjab minister for Local Government and Law Muhammad Basharat Raja during his visit to different Imambargahs here to review the security situation. Acting District Nazim Javed Akhlas, DIG Ch Iftikhar Ahmad and DPO Syed Moravat Shah accompanied the minister.

The minister said the identity of the informer would be kept secret. He said maintenance of law and order was the joint responsibility of the police and the administrations of the respective Imambargahs.

He asked the private security guards and local people to help the law-enforcement agencies maintain peace in the district. The minister said only the local people knew the fellows of their school of thought, so their cooperation was a must.

He directed the police authorities to ensure strict security during the Muharram processions. He also directed detailing of lady police at women gatherings and asked the administrations of respective Imambargahs to cooperate with the security personnel.

The minister also inspected the office of Rescue-15 located at Liaquat Bagh and directed the police personnel to swing into action soon after receiving an information about some subversive activity. He said the latest model motorcycles would also be provided to the police to enable them to carry out their duties effectively.

The acting Nazim told the minister that the police were alerted soon after the suicide bombing and security arrangements were checked at all Imambargahs till late Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the inspector general of police, Punjab, Syed Masood Shah on Sunday constituted 12 teams to expedite investigation into the suicide attack. The IGP also directed the deputy inspector general (DIG), Rawalpindi, Ch Iftikhar ahmed, to supervise the entire process, the sources said.

The district police officer, Syed Moravat Ali Shah, said the investigations were heading in the right direction and the culprits behind the attack would be nosed out.

The source said the 12 teams had been divided into three groups and placed under the control of superintendent of police, city circle; superintendent of police, Saddar circle; and superintendent of police, New Town circle.

The SPs have been advised to supervise the entire process and help determine the guidelines for the investigators. The teams have been directed to check the records of the various jails of the country to determine if the suicide bomber had some links with some banned religious organizations.

In this connection, a team of Rawalpindi police visited Adiala Jail on Sunday and questioned the convicts and suspects lodged there on charges of involvement in sectarian violence, anti-state activities and acts of terrorism.

The sources said the team showed them the picture of the suicide bomber and tried to find the bomber's links with them. The teams have also been directed to check the records available with the special courts, particularly of those alleged criminals, who had been produced there for their alleged involvement in sectarian violence or terrorist activities and were granted bail at some stage by the court.

The teams have also been directed to check the list of those, who had been declared absconders by the court, the sources said. In Islamabad security was heightened on the eve of the traditional 9th Muharram 'Zuljinah' procession which will start from Markazi Imambargah in Sector G-6/2 in the morning.

Patrolling by the army and paramilitary forces along with Islamabad police had been intensified and deployment was in place around the mosques and Imambargahs. The officials were closely monitoring the situation to prevent any untoward incident.