Summary Former interior minister Rehman Malik refuted Chaudhry Nisar's allegations.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Federal Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar revealed on Wednesday that previous government imported scanners worth one billion rupees for security purposes, claiming that all of those scanners cannot detect explosives and thus are useless, Dunya News reported.
He said that all those responsible for the procurement of security equipment should be hanged till death if corruption of even a penny is proven.
Federal minister visited the site of the attack and alleged while addressing the media that previous government imported security equipment including scanners worth billions and yet the equipments fail to detect explosives.
He said that effective security is not possible without adequate technology.
Responding to interior minister’s allegations, former interior minister Rehman Malik said that no corruption happened during the purchase of security equipment, and that even if a single penny is proven wasted during the procurement process, he would be ready for hanging.
Rehman Malik also demanded judicial inquiry over scanner procurement matter.
Earlier, a bomb tore through a bustling Islamabad market on Wednesday morning, killing at least 18 people, police and hospital officials said, the latest violence to hit government peace talks with the Taliban.
The blast took place around 8:00 am (0300 GMT) at a wholesale fruit and vegetable market close to the capital s twin city Rawalpindi, as hundreds of grocers and sellers gathered to trade.
It is the deadliest to hit the Pakistani capital since a huge truck bomb at the Marriott Hotel in 2008.
A bomb disposal official told French news agency AFP on condition of anonymity that the device hidden in a fruit box weighed five to six kilograms (11 to 13 pounds) and was packed with nuts and bolts to cause maximum carnage.
Banned United Baloch Army (UBA) claimed responsibility of Islamabad fruit market blast – that killed at least twenty four persons and injured dozens – on Wednesday, Dunya News reported.
The militant group said that the blast is carried out in retaliation of Pakistan security forces’ operation in Balochistan.
United Baloch Army had also accepted responsibility of Jaffar Express train en route from Quetta to Lahore that had killed at least seventeen passengers and injured over forty.
