Yet another police constable, who had been deployed for polio security duty, was gunned down by unidentified miscreants in Kohat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Tuesday.
Police told The Express Tribune that constable Hamid had been deployed as part of polio security on the outskirts of Kohat city in Khawasi Banda when bike riders opened firing at him, killing him on the spot.
“Tuesday was the second day of the polio vaccination campaign in Kohat like the rest of the province. In the morning unidentified attackers opened fire at the constable,” he said, adding that the constable received four bullets and a 9 mm pistol was used in the attack.
“The attackers managed to escape unnoticed from the crime scene. Local residents spotted the constable lying in a pool of his own blood and informed police about it,” he said, adding that the slain constable was rushed to the nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
A police contingent was sent to the area which cordoned off the entire locality and carried out a door to door search operation.
Meanwhile the last rites of the constable were offered in Farid Hussain Bangash Police Lines Kohat with full guard of honour. Later the coffin was sent to Hangu for burial in the ancestral graveyard.
Police said that after the attack security had been increased for the polio teams in Kohat and other adjacent districts.
“Investigation teams have been formed to look at the case from all aspects,” informed a police official, saying that polio vaccination drive has been going on uninterrupted.
Read Disinformation disturbs anti-polio drives
It is worth mentioning here that several policemen on polio security duty have been killed in Peshawar, Tank and other parts of the province in recent months.
Despite all the intelligence reports and threat alerts terrorists are staging successful attacks and police and security forces are the primary target in these attacks.
On Sunday, five of one family were killed in a mysterious mortar shell explosion in Darra Adam Khel.
Policeman killed during raid: On the other hand in Peshawar a police constable Samiullah was killed during a raid at a house in Urmar last night. A proclaimed offender (PO) was also killed by police. Police said that they raided the house of a PO Farman who opened firing at police, killing Samiullah. The family of the deceased PO Farman claimed that he was captured alive and then killed by local police. On the other hand, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has showed grief over the death of the constable and ordered an inquiry after it was reported on social media that he had not been paid for the last five months. He also ordered inquiry against police official who didn’t reach the jinaza in time, causing three hours delay.
The family of the deceased PO also staged a protest by placing his body on the main road against what they called the ‘extra judicial’ killing of the man and requested the CM and IGP to take notice of it.
“People are being killed in fake encounters by police in broad daylight without inviting any attention,” they blamed.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 26th, 2022.
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