KARACHI, June 26: He was the target but miraculously survived the attack. His driver and eight security personnel escorting him were not so fortunate, however, and died in the bomb attack on the Burnes Road on Wednesday morning.

Senior puisne judge of the Sindh High Court (SHC) Justice Maqbool Baqar was injured as were more than a dozen others. The two vehicles used by the security personnel and his own car were turned into mangled lumps of metal, so powerful was the explosion.

At least one of the vehicles in the judge’s motorcade was overturned by the force of the blast.

According to police officials, the bomb was planted in a parked motorcycle and detonated by a remote control on the busy road.

The incident occurred in the high security zone as not only the SHC was located some yards away from the place of the blast but the Sindh Assembly building and Sindh Secretariat, the headquarters of provincial government, were in the same area.

The dead included six policemen, two Rangers’ personnel and the driver of Justice Baqar.

The condition of Justice Baqar was stated to be out of danger.

Among the 18 injured people were nine policemen and two Rangers’ personnel.

“Justice Baqar was under threat from militant groups and he was the target of the bomb,” said DIG South Dr Ameer Sheikh.

A spokesman for Tehreek-i-Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We claim responsibility for the attack on the judge because he used to give verdicts against militants,” Ihsanullah Ihsan said.

“We are 70pc sure that Justice Baqar being Shia was targeted by militants but we are also giving 30pc weight to other possible motives of the bomb attack,” Dr Ameer Sheikh said.

The security of Justice Baqar was enhanced after he had received threats and he was provided 12 to 15 policemen and four Rangers’ personnel who used to be on bikes on both sides of his vehicle and most of the victims were police and Rangers’ personnel, said the DIG South.

He said that among the dead were three policemen in a mobile who were incidentally passing through the area at the time of the blast and became victims. As chauffer-driven car of the justice being escorted by a police mobile and Rangers’ personnel was about to take turn some yards away from the Sindh High Court, six to eight kilograms of explosives planted in the motorcycle parked on a footpath adjacent to a mosque were detonated by a remote control, said the senior police officer.

“The bomb targeted the justice’s car whose front and left side were badly damaged, killing the driver and police gunman on the front seats on the spot while the justice miraculously escaped as he was sitting on the rear seat and right side of the vehicle, which was relatively less damaged,” said an official of Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS).

The blast was so powerful that one of the motorcycles of the Rangers personnel flew and landed on the roof of a mosque and the other on the roof of a nearby home, added the BDS official.

“We received bodies of five policeman, one Ranger’s personnel and driver of the justice at the Civil Hospital Karachi,” said police surgeon Dr Jalil Qadir.

Thirteen injured men, including Justice Baqar, were taken to the same hospital. Of the injured, one policeman died during treatment. He said that six injured people, including two Rangers’ personnel, were taken to Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre where one of them died during treatment, taking the death to nine.

Some of the injured, including Justice Baqar, were later moved to a private hospital, Dr Qadir said.

“The condition of Justice Baqar was out of danger,” said Dr Nisar Shah of the CHK.

A visit to the site revealed the badly damaged car of the justice which hit the divider of the road and two damaged police mobiles. One of the police mobiles which were deployed for security of DIG A.D. Khawaja was passing through the same area and came under attack, said one police officer.

“It was a 6kg IED planted in the backside of the motorcycle parked at the corner of the mosque, and it was detonated by a remote control,” a BDS official told Dawn.

He said the blast blew the car of the justice, police mobiles and two motorcycles of Rangers into pieces. The bomb caused a two feet deep crater on the spot. Windowpanes of homes and shops within the 30-metre area were shattered

The blast prompted the provincial authorities to review security of not only judges of the superior judiciary but the chief minister and governor of Sindh as well, the DIG South said.

Dr Ameer Sheikh said that a high-level committee had been set up to review the security of the judges of the SHC and Supreme Court, those especially belonging to the Shia community.

“We tend to provide advice to all those persons whose life is under threat to frequently change three things: the route, timing and the vehicle,” the DIG South said. He said that a team of CID was working after Justice Baqar had received threats from militants.

Sindh IG Shahid Nadeem Baloch has formed a probe body headed by DIG South.

Meanwhile, the blast prompted lawmakers of the Sindh Assembly to pass a unanimous resolution, condemning the inhuman and cowardly attack on the senior judge and demanding strict measures to curb the menace of terrorism.