Quetta shooting: Police official shot dead – possibly by sectarian killers

QUETTA:

A senior police official investigating sectarian killings in Balochistan was shot dead by gunmen in the provincial capital on Friday morning.

Jamil Ahmed Kakar, the superintendent of police (Investigation branch), is the 17th police official to have been killed in Quetta over the past three months, according to an official tally.

“Gunmen riding on motorcycles intercepted the car of SP Kakar in the Killi Gul Muhammad neighbourhood and sprayed him with bullets,” Mir Zubair, the capital city police officer (CCPO), told the media.

“Kakar died on the spot and a passerby was wounded,” he added. “The gunmen managed to escape. We have launched a manhunt for them.”

Kakar’s body was shifted to the Combined Military Hospital where medics said that he received two bullets to his upper torso which caused his instant death.

Police said they were investigating the motives.

However, sources added that SP Kakar was investigating several cases of sectarian violence – and that he had recently received threats from extremist outfits.

“Whenever an officer is close to unmasking the elements involved in sectarian violence he is killed,” a senior police investigator told The Express Tribune.

Witnesses said the attackers were three in number and they were riding on two motorcycles.

“They opened fire on SP Kakar’s official vehicle after he drove out of his residence,” one witness told The Express Tribune. “The gunmen also fired at the passerby, identified as Ghulam Muhammad, when he tried to confront them.”

Kakar was recently promoted as SP and posted at Saryab police station. Before that he served as deputy superintendent of police at Quetta’s Brewery Road Police Station.

CCPO Zubair described SP Kakar as a brave officer who laid down his life in the line of duty. “At least 17 police officials have been killed in the past three months,” he said. “However, this would not dent the morale of the police force.”

The funeral prayers for SP Kakar were offered in the Police Lines, Quetta. A large number of police officials and bureaucrats were attendance.

According to a police tally, at least 180 policemen have been killed and 300 injured in 232 incidents of violence in the last five years.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2012.