PESHAWAR: The Bomb Disposal Unit personnel on Monday defused an explosive device weighing about two kilogrammes near a car bargain centre in Patang Chowk area on the Ring Road here, the police said.

       A police official told Dawn that the device was a pipe bomb having a timer, a detonator and ball bearings. He said the device was safely defused by the BDU personnel.

       The official said the car bargain centre was the apparent target as the owner had received calls from Afghan numbers demanding extortion.

       A senior police official said the car bargain centre’s owner told the investigators that he had blocked the Afghan number from which he was receiving calls, but did not report it to the police.

       The Counter-Terrorism Department registered FIR and started further investigations.

       Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2021