Policeman accidentally explodes grenade in Pakistan court after assuring judge device had been disarmed

A policeman in Pakistan accidentally exploded a bomb in an anti-terrorism court after attempting to demonstrate a grenade detonator to the judge.

Constable Liaquat Ali was injured by the blast moments after he assured the judge that the piece of evidence had been disarmed.

Court assistant Shoaib Ahmed was also hurt by shrapnel wounds to his hand and head, while the judge fell off his chair, witnesses said.

The anti-terror court in Karachi had been shown evidence against a man accused of fighting police. Among the weapons captured at the time of his arrest and displayed in court were heavy weapons, hand grenades and explosives.

Muhammad Islam, a court official, said the officer was trying to counter an argument by the defence that the detonator, which one official said had been separated from the grenade, was too complex for the defendant to know how to use.

Ali demonstrated the ease with which the pin could be removed from the detonator just after assuring the court that the device had been defused.