Police officer pulls pin out of `live` grenade in court after judge asks: How does it work?
At least five people including a judge were injured when a police officer accidentally detonated a grenade as he was giving evidence in a Pakistani anti-terror court.
Apr 13, 2016
By Nick Hudson
At least five people including a judge were injured when a police officer accidentally detonated a grenade as he was giving evidence in a Pakistani anti-terror court.
Karachi judge Shakil Haider was thrown from the bench in the blast as Constable Abid Ansari removed the pin, causing the device to explode despite his assurances it had been disarmed.
The officer was asked by the judge to demonstrate how the mechanism worked as he presented the case against defendant Waleed Baloch, accused of extortion.
Police claimed the grenade was part of a cache of weapons thought to have been recovered from the defendant when they arrested him.
Constable Ansari, from the Sindh Police Department`s Kalakot station, was responding to the defences claims that the detonator would have been too complex to be operated by the defendant.
Eyewitnesses said a court clerk opened the box carrying the device which then exploded inside the courtroom.
The officer suffered severe injuries to his hands while court assistant Shoaib Ahmed was also hurt by shrapnel wounds to his head and hands. All the casualties were taken to nearby Jimmah Hospital. According to police, three of the five people only suffered minor injuries.
Senior police official Jameel Ahmed, deputy inspector general South zone, confirmed the incident, saying that the judge had asked for the detonator to be presented in court following a request by the defence counsel.
The `bang` came from the detonator which it was originally thought had been defused, he said.
The explosive surrounding the detonator had already been made harmless, he added. But the detonator, which carried a very small amount of explosive material, was packed in a glass utensil.
“We are investigating as to how the detonator was brought to the court without being defused,” Mr Ahmed said.
The courtroom was cleared in the aftermath of the explosion and the trial suspended for the rest of the day.
Fearing a terrorist attack, paramilitaries and police surrounded the courthouse and cordoned off the area. Security forces across the city were placed on high alert.
The explosion also sparked panic in the rest of the court building, where other anti-terrorism cases are held.
We thought the whole place was under attack from terrorists, said Farhan Haider, a lawyer who had been in a courtroom next door.
Everyone was just rushing towards the exits.
Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Sial told reporters that it was standard procedure to neutralise any explosives before bringing them into court.
Police have launched an investigation into how the explosive went off as Pakistan`s Supreme Court ordered a full inquiry.
A police spokesperson said Constable Arani is now facing a disciplinary hearing for “mishandling evidence” as the whole procedure should have been supervised by a bomb squad officer.