Ghulam Qadir Dogar, a jobless man, had died on the spot and his friend Badal Brohi was seriously injured. He died six days later at a Karachi hospital.

Badal alias Buxial Brohi, a cobbler, was the only eyewitness of the blast.

Badal's widow Pathani Brohi, 35, said that she had to sell her golden jewellery set for Rs120,000 to pay her husband's medical bill.

She said that she had spent everything on buying drugs for Badal, leaving nothing behind to feed her children, Deedar, 8, Imran, 3, and Uzma, 4.

She complained that she did not receive compensation announced by the chief minister. The then district nazim Karim Ali Jatoi had given her a cheque for Rs150,000 which bounced when she tried to encash it, she said.

Deedar was studying in class three when his father died and he had to leave school soon afterwards because her mother could not afford his education.

Badal's family is living in a mud-thatched house, which is in bad need of repairs.

Badal's brother Shabeer Brohi said that police's progress on the case was zero and demanded that the chief minister should direct police to arrest the accused.

Badal's mother Ms Shareefan, 60, who had been unconscious for 12 days weeps and cries out her son's name whenever she regains consciousness for a few seconds.

Iqbal Khatoon Dogar, widow of Ghulam Qadir Dogar, lives with her children Paras, 15, Pirah, 13, Ali Haider, 11, in a two-roomed rented house.

She said that she was a schoolteacher and her family depended on her salary. Her husband used to kill time at his friend Badal's workplace. He was sitting there when the blast took place, she said.

She said that police had initially declared her husband as suicide bomber but retracted the claim after she identified him. She did not receive any compensation from Sindh or district governments.

Sikandar Panhwar, a Hesco employee was another victim of the blast. He was working on a pole when the blast caused power cables to snap and and fall on him. He died of electrocution.

Police and doctors have different opinions over including him in the list of blast victims.

Dadu DPO Ghazi Salahuddin said that Panhwar was not a blast victim because he died of electric shock but additional civil surgeon Dr Mumtaz Channa insisted on putting his name together with blast victims. Panhwar was a victim of the blast because the wires snapped due to the blast, he said.

Rafique Jatoi, one of the people who suffered injuries in the blast, was under treatment at his home in Hatim Jatoi village. He had received injuries in his legs, arms and head. He said that he was crossing the road when the bomb exploded.

Police have, meanwhile, released a suspect, Badshah Khan of Quetta, who was arrested minutes after the blast near New Chowk and another suspect Abdul Sattar Kalhoro, president of the Dadu chapter of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz, has reportedly escaped from custody.

He was arrested from his hometown Mehar on Feb 14. Police have, however, never admitted the arrest officially.

The DPO said that Kalhoro had not been arrested. He was under surveillance and was levelling accusations on him to protect himself, he said.

But Mr Kalhoro alleged that the DPO had subjected him to torture to force out a confession. He was kept at different police stations before he managed to escape from Phakka police post, he said.

He said the torture had impaired his eyesight and damaged an arm.

The DPO said that Badshah Khan was released after investigation teams of different law enforcement agencies and police found nothing incriminating on him.

He said that nothing could be said yet about who was behind the blast because the investigation was still under way. Badal Brohi, the only eyewitness, could utter only a few words before he died, he said. His death, however, did not stop the probe but it had certainly slowed it down, he said.

Badal had told the investigators that two unidentified men left a small box with him, saying that they would come back soon to collect it.