Busted at check point: Three policemen killed in Hyderabad attack

Officials unsure if attack is a reaction to Zarb-e-Azb or Karachi operation.

HYDERABAD:

Three policemen were killed and three others, including a policeman, were injured in a late-night attack on Sunday during snap-checking in Latifabad Unit 7.

"Three policemen were killed while one is seriously injured," Hyderabad DIG Sanaullah Abbasi. "All of them were shot in the head and neck." Four unidentified attackers riding two motorcycles fired almost two dozen bullets at the police and their van before escaping unhurt from the spot.



The slain policemen, who were posted at A-section police station, have been identified as constables Rao Masood and Rashid Ali, who is a cousin of Muttahida Qaumi Movement MNA Syed Waseem Hussain, and driver Ishtiaq Ali. Another constable Munawar alias David and two passersby, Syed Ali Kaiser Rizvi and Nadia Javed, were injured.

Munawar was shot in the neck and was shifted to Karachi in critical condition. Rizvi and Javed were shot in the arm. According to SSP Pir Farid Jan Sarhindi, the police collected 20 bullet shells of 9mm guns from the site.

The DIG and SSP, who rushed to the hospital after the incident, claimed that militants may be involved in the attack. "In my opinion and based on the feedback I have been given, it appears to be a reaction to the operation [in North Waziristan]," said DIG Abbasi.

The police and intelligence agencies had arrested three suspects from Jamshoro on Sunday morning while a suspected warehouse in SITE area of Hyderabad was also sealed. Abbasi also believed that the killings could have been a reaction to the encounter of notorious criminal, Adnan alias Adu, who was shot dead in exchange of fire two weeks ago in Tando Jam. "Adu was implicated in 15 to 16 murders," said Abbasi.

For his part, the SSP linked the ongoing Karachi operation and local groups of outlaws to the attack. "We have arrested 12 suspects from different areas since last night," said Sarhindi.

Funeral

The funeral prayers for the martyred policemen were offered on Monday morning at the police headquarters. Rao Masood was laid to rest in a graveyard in Mir Fazal Town in Latifabad, Rashid Ali in a Tando Yousuf graveyard and driver Ishtiaq Alam Khanzada in a graveyard in Tando Jam town. The FIR of this attack has yet to be lodged.

Security measures

DIG Abbasi said that he has directed the Hyderabad police to deploy at least two police vans at the snap-checking spots and also to wear bulletproof jackets, even though he admitted there is an acute shortage of such vests in the district. "There are only 182 jackets for an active police force of around 3,000 in Hyderabad." Abbasi has requested the provincial government to address this shortage and has also requested temporary supply of jackets from other police districts.

As many as 14 policemen have been killed in Hyderabad in just over seven months. A similar attack was carried out on the A-section police on November 26, 2013. Three police constables and an assistant sub inspector were killed in that attack. Seven more policemen were murdered in separate attacks from January to June this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2014.