Traffic cop hurt in possible car smuggling bid

Excise officials open fire after traffic police sub-inspector refused to stop for snap check

PESHAWAR: A sub-inspector of the Charsadda Traffic Police was wounded when an excise and taxation officer opened fire on his car.

According to officials, Sub-inspector Shaheen Shah’s car, bearing registration number LA 037, was stopped by Excise Inspector Suhail Muhammad for a snap check at Mandani Zaim but he refused to cooperate, choosing to drive away instead.

Suhail then contacted the excise team located at the next check point, asking it to stop Shah’s car. Reaching there, however, Shah tried to speed away once again. At this, the excise team opened fire at the car, injuring Shah, forcing him to stop.



Shah was first shifted to the DHQ Charsadda Hospital and then to Peshawar for further treatment. His vehicle was taken into custody for further investigation, with an initial search revealing that the car contained no valid documents.

Mandani is situated on the border between Malakand Agency and the Charsadda district, where many non-custom paid vehicles pass through when coming from Khyber Agency via Peshawar. Once these cars are smuggled into Malakand, owning them is not a crime as there are no proper laws in place.

The police in the region have recently started to investigate the involvement of police officials in the smuggling of cars, with excise officials checking cars regularly to curb the smuggling from Khyber to Malakand.