Usman Buzdar, the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, has claimed that a “hostile intelligence agency” is involved in the Lahore explosion that took place last week merely 100 meters away from the house of Hafeez Saeed, the head of the extremist organization Lashkar-e-Tayeba. 

"It was found that a hostile intelligence agency was involved which provided financial help to this network," Usman said on Monday in a press conference. All high-profile suspects have been traced and arrested, he claimed. 

“We have close to 10 Pakistani citizens — men and women — who were involved in this and who executed it,” Inam Ghani, the Inspector General of Punjab Police, was quoted as saying by Dawn. 

“The lynchpin who arranged all this has been arrested, those who arranged the car and those who repaired the car and those who filled the car with explosive material as well — we have all of them” he added. The mastermind, he claimed, is connected to “hostile intelligence agencies.”

When asked to name the agencies involved, the police officer said, “it would not be appropriate to mention them.” 

Pakistani experts have contended that the explosion might be a test signal from Indian agencies as a demonstration of its capability and intent to those terrorist leaders sitting in Pakistan. However, no clear evidence has emerged, indicating the involvement of Indian agencies. 

Furthermore, the chief minister informed that there was no prior alert related to the explosion. 
(SAM)