PESHAWAR: Another hand grenade was hurled at the residence of former provincial minister and businessman Haji Mohammad Javed, Gulbahar police informed on Wednesday.
“This was the second attack of its kind on the house of the former minister in the last two days”, said an official of the capital city police. He said no casualty or damage was reported in the attack on Javed’s house, which is under construction in Gulbahar. Senior police officials visited the crime scene while the bomb disposal experts collected evidence from the spot, he added.
The Tablighi Jamaat’s senior member’s house was attacked with a grenade a couple of days back while no casualty or damage in that incident was reported. His house was also attacked many months ago.
It merits mention that in the last few months, a number of incidents occurred in which grenades were lobbed into houses, hujras and factories in Peshawar and other districts of the province. Not all, but most of the victims were those who had received calls for extortion on WhatsApp numbers from unknown groups.
After calls to a large number of industrialists, traders, politicians, contractors and other well-off people, houses are being attacked more frequently for the past few months.
The police are on high alert across the province after the recent spike in attacks in areas, including Peshawar, southern districts, and the Mardan region.
On the last Sunday, provincial spokesperson of the Awami National Party (ANP) Samar Bilour said ANP’s provincial president Aimal Wali Khan had received a call about a plan of attack on his life. “Apart from Aimal, Sardar Hussain Babak and others have also received threats while the house of MPA Faisal Zeb was attacked twice in the last few weeks,” Bilour added.
In September, a hand grenade was thrown at former federal minister Shehryar Afridi’s house in Kohat, while PTI MPA Aghaz Khan Gandapur’s residence was attacked by armed men in Dera Ismail Khan, leaving one policeman dead.
Apart from the attack on the house of ANP MPA Faisal Zeb in Shangla, a grenade was also hurled at the house of party Senator Hidayatullah in Peshawar in July.
PTI MPA Malik Liaqat was also wounded in an attack on his vehicle in Lower Dir in August, while four others, including his brother and nephew, lost their lives in the attack.
Businessmen and political workers have been receiving extortion calls in the past few months. The majority of these incidents were not even reported to the police.
