In the line of duty: Police arrest suspect for targeting policemen

Two officials were killed, one critically injured in an attack on a police mobile in Patel Para.

KARACHI: Two policemen were killed and another was critically injured when a police mobile was attacked in Patel Para on Sunday. The police, however, claim to have arrested one of the four criminals suspected of carrying out the attack.

The attack took place when police pickets were being set up for security reasons before the funeral prayers of the three Awami National Party workers who were gunned down a day earlier at Nishter Road.

The deceased policemen were identified as Mohammad Iqbal, father of two children, and Mohammad Amjad, father of seven. The injured police official was identified as Rana Mohammad Amir, father of four children and also the brother of two employees of The Express Tribune. All three officials were posted at the PIB Colony police station.

“As we were changing the night-shift duty, unidentified men on motorcycles opened indiscriminate firing at the mobile,” said policeman Rana Riaz who was in the other police mobile. “The attack took us by surprise and before we could retaliate, they escaped.”

The injured policeman was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital but later shifted to the Aga Khan Hospital. He was shot once each in the back, leg and head and was in the intensive care unit till the filing of this report.



“The estimate for his treatment is coming up to Rs1 million,” said one of the victim’s brother. “Doctors have asked us to pay Rs450,000 by Monday morning.”

DSP Nasir Lodhi visited the hospital to check up on Mohammed Amir. No senior official from the police department, however, briefed the family on the process of the payment for the injured policeman’s treatment.

“My brother was injured in the line of duty and we are hoping for full assistance from the police,” said Mohammed Amir’s brother Rana Tahir.

Sindh IGP Shahid Nadeem Baloch while talking to The Express Tribune assured that the police department would bear all the expenses. “It is our responsibility and we will bear all the expenses,” said the IGP.

Arrest

Police believe  that the officials in Patel Para were attacked by members of the same criminal group whose men, Naveed Ahmed, 30, and Mohammad Sarfaraz, 45, were killed on Saturday.

Confirming the arrest, DSP Zameer Abbasi told The Express Tribune that the suspect was also a worker of the ANP. “These criminals wanted to create panic and that is why they targeted the police mobile.”

ANP’s spokesperson, however, refuted the police’s claims, saying that the deceased were not involved in any criminal activity. He also made it clear that the party’s workers were not behind the attack on the police. “The same group of criminals targeted our men, as well as the police,” he said.

Another policeman was shot dead on the Super Highway near Sohrab Goth.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2013.