PESHAWAR:
Two policemen and one assailant were killed in an exchange of gunfire on Inqilab Road near Chamkani police station early Thursday morning.
A Waheedabad police van was on routine patrol on Inqilab Road near Gharibabad at Sehr when men on three motorbikes ambushed it, leaving three policemen injured. The police returned fire, killing one of the attackers. His accomplices escaped, leaving his body behind.
“Three of our men were badly injured, including head constable Mukhtiar from Bin Ghazi, Badhaber, Special Police Force driver Shah Saud from Mera Kachori and Special Police Force constable Hameed Ahmad Shah, a resident of Chamkani,” a Chamkani police official told The Express Tribune.
Mukhtiar died of his injuries soon after the policemen were rushed to Lady Reading Hospital. Saud also breathed his last at the hospital. “The attacker who was killed in police fire was later identified as Sajidullah, a resident of Lower Dir,” the officer added. Sajidullah was found carrying identification as well as both local and Afghan currencies in his pockets.
According to the Chamkani official, at least six attackers were on the motorbikes when they targeted the police pickup. “The identity of the miscreant has been established. This will help us reach his family and ultimately other gang members,” he added.
A door-to-door search operation was launched soon after the attack and several suspects were arrested. However, the assailants were not found till the filing of this report. Last rites were offered for both policemen at Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines with senior police officials in attendance. The bodies were then sent to their ancestral villages for burial.
In a handout issued on Thursday evening, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak announced families of those who died in the attack on the Chamkani police van will receive Rs3 million each. Legal heirs of the martyred policemen will receive their salaries till retirement date.
“Injured police jawans will also be compensated under the martyr’s package,” read the statement, this provision is in addition to free treatment.
Khattak expressed satisfaction that “a terrorist had also been killed in retaliatory firing of the brave police jawans.”
Blast outside PPP leader’s house
The main gate of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate for NA-4, Misbahuddin, was damaged in a low-intensity blast in Amin Colony, within the jurisdiction of Bhanamari police station on Thursday afternoon. According to an official of the station, Misbahuddin had been receiving extortion demands and threats for which an FIR had been registered two days prior to the attack.
“It was a low-intensity blast and the gate has been damaged. There was no loss of life,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2014.
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