LAHORE: The blast on the Outfall Road was triggered by a remote control device, the probe into the explosion has revealed. It says the bomber wanted to target ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s rally and he exploded the device a day af ter the rally`s route was changed.

The Punjab government had constituted a five-member joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the blast that killed two men and lef t 48 others injured when more than 100kg explosive stuffed in the mini-truck parked in a lot exploded on Aug 7.

A JIT member, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn the explosive-laden truck was arranged to target the caravan of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif who was earlier scheduled to arrive in the city on Aug 7 but its rally`s route was changed.

According to the first plan the ousted prime minister rally have to pass by the point. He said the terrorists had parked the vehicle in a parking lot and installed a remote control device in it to target the rally. He said as theplan of the rally route was changed, the terrorists detonated the explosive in the parking lot by using remote control. However, the investigator said they were trying to establish the identity of the truck driver and they would arrest him soon.

Earlier, the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) arrested four people, namely an excise department inspector and three transport operators.

The LEAs also found that the truck was registered in the names of two transport operators who are identified as Amanat Ali, a resident of Timber Market, and Mehboob, a resident of Renala Khurd.

They also found Mehboob had used f ake computerised national identity card (CNIC) to have the vehicle transferred and later the Excise and Taxation Department and police records showed that another truck was registered as LPT 7083 and its documents` missing report was registered with the Shahdara Police Station in 2016. It was further revealed that the agents using the missing report had transferred the vehicle in the name of another person, a resident of Nowshera.