What goes up: Stray bullet hit Rasheed’s car: police

Further investigation is still ongoing; case registered by Aabpara police.

ISLAMABAD:

Initial police investigations have shown that Member National Assembly Sheikh Rasheed’s car was hit by a “stray bullet”, possibly fired into the air by unknown persons.

Rasheed, the president of the Awami Muslim League, had reported to police on Thursday night that his car was fired upon near Zero Point on Islamabad Highway around 10pm.

He was returning home to Rawalpindi after going to a TV news studio in Islamabad. His driver and gunman were with him. According to the police, Rasheed was unhurt in the incident and his driver found a bullet lodged in the trunk of the bullet-proof car.

Preliminary investigations supervised by the Operations Senior Superintendent of Police Muhammad Rizwan revealed that the bullet was coming down from the sky. The bullet was at the terminal end of its trajectory and hit the car at a vertical angle. It only partially pierced the top sheet of the car’s trunk and got stuck there, police said.

Further investigations are underway, according to police.

Police authorities said Rasheed first informed the media about the incident and later came to the police.

Rasheed had claimed on Thursday night that his driver sped up the car after they heard the shot and they went directly to Kohsar Police Station, where according to Rasheed, the police asked him to go to the Aabpara Police Station as the alleged incident occurred in the Aabpara
area.

Rasheed reported the incident to Aabpara police at around 10:30pm, according to police. The Aabpara police registered a case on the complaint of the parliamentarian.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2013.