Judge's convoy ambushed: cop killed, two injured

Unprecedented attack raises alarm over law and order in Sindh

HYDERABAD:

In a first, an incumbent district and sessions judge has come under an armed assault as Larkana and Sukkur divisions witness aggravation in the already poor law and order situation. The squad of Larkana district court's top judge Simkan Hussain Mughal was attacked by unknown armed men as it passed through Tando Masti area of Khairpur district in the wee hours of Saturday.

Although the judge survived unscathed, a policeman was martyred and two cops were injured in the attack. The police, as far as their public statements are concerned, are still in the dark about the assailants and their motive. The incident has drawn widespread condemnation from across the country.

The injured Head Constable Iqbal Ahmed Malano narrated the incident to the media telling that they had crossed Tando Masti toll plaza by five to seven kilometres when they became fenced in by sudden indiscriminate firing. "It felt as if the bullets were being fired from both sides of the road," he recalled.

The martyred policeman, Maqbool Ahmed Shaikh, died in front of him as both of them were sitting in the same police mobile van.

The judge was returning to Larkana from Sukkur where he attended a reception hosted by SHCBA in honour of the acting Chief Justice.

Malano said,"The firing was so intense that we could barely load chambers of our guns. We could not even count the attackers if they were five or eight or 10." The martyred cop Shaikh, 48, was laid to rest in Larkana after his funeral which was offered in the police headquarters.

Talking to the media DIG Sukkur Faisal Abdullah Chachar disclosed that the police neither knew the assailants nor the motive. However, he said that raids have been carried out in the villages near the place of the attack and many suspects have been detained for interrogation. Some police sources claim that between 15 to 25 suspects have been picked up.

"It is not only an assault on an individual but also an attack on the justice system and the rule of law," said general secretary SHCBA.