Two armed men kill police official, injure another

ISLAMABAD: A police personnel was killed and another injured at a check post in Shehzad Town during a clash with armed men in the early hours of Thursday morning.

According to Shehzad Town Police, two suspicious people on a motorcycle were stopped by the police at the check point. One of them opened fire at the police. The constable Shamshad Akhtar, who had stopped them, was shot in the face and killed at the spot.

In retaliation a police patrol and eagle squad of the police who were present at the post returned fire. The police claimed that two suspects entered a narrow and dark alley and managed to escape from the scene.

The investigation officer told The Express Tribune that from the initial investigations, it seemed that the attackers were robberss. They did not want to be arrested so they opened fire at the police and managed to escape, he said.

However, the Superintendent of Police (Rural) Tahir Ayub said it was a little early to get to these conclusions. “Investigations are underway to ascertain the exact facts. Possibility of a terrorist attack cannot be ruled out” he said.

According to more details, the SP said that some people in a vehicle had informed the police that two suspicious people were headed towards the check posts on a motorcycle. When they arrived near the checkpoint, constable Shamshad stopped them.

One of them opened fire at the police. “They were pursued by the police. However, they managed to escape as they kept on firing at the police. But they left their motorcycle behind,” he said.

“We are tracking the details of the motorcycle and trying to establish other related links but it would be early to disclose them” he added.

Officials said the motorcycle was not a stolen or snatched one. Further investigation is also being carried out about the motorcycle used by the criminals.

The injured police constable was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences from where he was discharged after treatment.

Funeral prayer of the cop killed in the firing incident was offered at Police Line Headquarters and his body was sent to his native town of Mandi Bahauddin.

The funeral was attended by Chief Commissioner Islamabad Tariq Mehmood Pirzada, DIG (Operations) Bani Ameen, all Sub-Divisional Police Officers, Station House Officers and other police officials.

Inspector General of Police Islamabad Syed Kaleem Imam speaking about the incident said that head constable Shamshad Akbar had sacrificed his life in the line of duty. “He was a brave policeman. Those involved in killing him would be arrested soon,” he said.

SSP Islamabad Tahir Alam Khan promised, “This sacrifice of the brave policeman will not go useless and terrorists involved in the heinous crime will be nabbed soon.”

Published in the Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2010.