Targeted?: Police van driver shot, injured

PESHAWAR:

A police van driver was hit by a bullet fired from an unknown direction during routine night patrol near Central Jail Peshawar on Saturday.

According to police officials, Hayat Khan, driver of the Jail-1 mobile, which patrols the area when the road is blocked for traffic, received a bullet in his abdomen. He was rushed to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and is in critical condition.

Local police has voiced alarm over the nature of the attack. “Khan was patrolling the road as a security measure to prevent an attack of the same intensity as the DI Khan jailbreak at Central Jail Peshawar,” a police official said. “He was shot when he had stopped near the jail.”

According to the official, a search operation was launched in the area but no evidence connected with the incident was found.

“It is likely that the bullet was shot from long-range,” he said. Moreover, the police have not ruled out the possibility that Khan was hit by a stray bullet, the official added.

Further investigation into the incident is under way.

Grenade attack

A grenade was lobbed at a house by unidentified miscreants in Hayatabad on Sunday. However, no casualties have been reported. According to Tatara police, the grenade attack occurred at the residence of Haroon, a resident of Phase-VI, Hayatabad.

The attack took place in the afternoon and resulted in a loud explosion.

After the incident, fear and panic gripped the entire neighbourhood.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2014.