KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- Police questioned three people Saturday over the bombing of Benazir Bhutto's caravan, which killed at least 136 people and shattered what was intended to be a triumphant return from exile.
The men were linked to a vehicle that police think was used by one of the attackers who threw a grenade at the convoy late Thursday, causing Bhutto's campaign bus to come to a halt, said a senior investigator who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
Seconds later, a suicide bomber blew himself up with a shrapnel-filled explosive. Police detained the three men in southern Punjab province -- a center for militancy -- and took them to Karachi for questioning.
The senior investigator said police believed the men, who have yet to be charged, hold crucial clues about the bombing.
The attack was the deadliest in Pakistan's history, turning Bhutto's jubilant homecoming parade into a scene of carnage. More than 200 were injured.
Pakistan's government on Saturday denied involvement in the attack, while sporadic violence flared in Karachi, a boisterous city of 15 million people. Angry over the suicide bombing, supporters of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party threw stones and burned tires in parts of the city.
Bhutto, 54, hopes to earn a third term as prime minister in January's parliamentary elections. She returned to Pakistan on Thursday after a self-imposed, eight-year exile.
She was prime minister from 1988 until 1990, when her government was dismissed amid corruption allegations that she denied. She returned to power in 1993, but again her government was dismissed amid corruption allegations in 1996.
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