By IANS,
Islamabad : A huge cache of 650 kg of explosive material has been recovered from a village near here, with the authorities saying they had foiled a plot to cause widespread destruction in the Pakistani capital and the twin city of Rawalpindi.
Police, however, failed to arrest three people who were in the house from where the explosives were recovered as they managed to escape during the raid, The News reported Friday, quoting an intelligence agency source.
Later, the police detained 10 people for interrogation and registered a case under the Explosives Act.
Over 650 kg of explosive material, including 520 detonating devices (12 packs of two different kinds), 357 bricks of the Aemolite explosives, 20 bags of gunpowder and three bags of sulphur powder were recovered, police said.
The cache was hidden in a house in Karal, a small village on the outskirts of the capital within the jurisdiction of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
“The Islamabad Police and intelligence agencies officials believe that the explosive material and detonators were meant to target various commercial centres and residential areas in the federal capital,” The News said.