Grenade attack in Kot Addu damages police van, injures eight people

The van fell into a ditch after the blast. PHOTO: REUTERS/ FILE 

KOT ADDU: Six police officials survived a terrorist attempt in sub district Kot Addu of district Muzafarhgarh on Friday, when a man threw a hand grenade at their van.
Five police men including ASI Muhammad Anwar Ali, driver of the van Habib Akran, constables Ashraf Ali and Zia Ullah, two police volunteers, two criminals and the driver of a rickshaw were injured as a result of the attack.
According to the details given by DPO Ghazi Salahuddin, a police team from the Chobara police station in district Layyah had come to the rural area of Sanawan in Kot Addu to arrest a person on the charges of kidnapping.
The alleged kidnapper Qayyum and a person involved in hiding him were arrested and were being taken by the police in their van.
On their way back, they were attacked near an old railway station when a man hiding behind a storehouse struck them with a hand grenade. When he attempted to escape, the police van struck him and fell in a ditch near the road.
The assailant was injured and has been shifted to unknown place for further investigation.