DUSHANBE, July 31, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A car belonging to the deputy chief of the police department for Dushanbe’s Firdavsi district blew up in Dushanbe yesterday evening.

According to the Dushanbe police directorate, an explosion occurred at a bout 6:30 pm.  “Lieutenant-Colonel Tolibsho Dovudov parked his VAZ-2106 near the merchandize market Korvon in the southern part of Dushanbe,” said the source, “The car blew up when Dovudov went out of the market and opened the car’s door.  Sergeant Major Bahriddin Rahmonov was with him.  Both officers were injured; they were taken to the National Medical Center (formerly Republican Clinical Hospital # 3).”

He added that a bomb had been planted inside the car and an operational team comprising investigators from the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the Dushanbe police directorate, was currently working to figure out whether it was a terrorist act or a personal grudge against that particular police officer.

We will recall that Dushanbe yesterday hosted a quadripartite meeting involving the presidents of Tajikistan, Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.