Targeted: Special Branch police officer shot dead

Police Official Arshad Iqbal was on his way to work when two men on a motorcycle intercepted him and opened fire.

SWABI:

A police official of the special branch was gunned down by unidentified men in Marghuz, Swabi on Monday.

Shah Nawaz, an official of the Zaida police, said head constable Arshad Iqbal was on his way to work around 9:30am when two men on a motorcycle intercepted him in Marghuz Bazaar and opened fire, killing him on the spot.

Following the incident, police rushed to the site and shifted the body to the Bacha Khan Medical Complex (BMC) in Shah Mansoor village. A search operation was launched in the area, but no arrests could be made.



“Masked militants gunned down the man in broad daylight in a crowded place and no one even tried to capture them or thwart the attack,” Nawaz said, adding the family of the deceased has not filed a case yet. He said the family claimed they had no enmity with anyone.

An administration official of the BMC said the autopsy revealed Iqbal was shot in the head and chest from close range with a 30-bore pistol. He added the body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem.

Iqbal’s funeral prayers were offered in his hometown and were attended by several police officers.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2013.