MULTAN, Oct 29: A constable was seriously injured when two armed men opened fire on him here on Monday.

According to reports, constable Shahbaz was on his way to the market when Awais and Mazhar allegedly opened fire on him injuring him critically in New Multan Colony. Shehbaz also retaliated and resorted to firing on them but they managed to escape

Shahbaz, afterwards, told newsmen that in the month of August the same culprits had shot dead Irum and injured her sister Farah in Shamsabad when they were being chased by Muzafarabad police. He claimed that he was the only policeman who could identify them as he was driving the police wagon which was following their car. “Therefore, they attempted to eliminate me.”

It may be mentioned here that after the murder of Irum and Farah, Cantonment DSP Mirza Maqbool had told reporters that Irum lost her life by police firing during an encounter with Wasim. Later, the police changed its statement and said that it was Wasim who killed Irum in an exchange of fire with police.

But Irum’s post-mortem report belied the police claim as it revealed that the bullets that pierced into her neck were fired from a considerable distance.

Nine POs held: Multan police on Saturday claimed to have arrested nine proclaimed offenders (PO) during a general hold-up.

The arrested included Allah Wasaia, Fida Husain, Jan Muhammad, Muhammad Bakhsh, Muhammad Aslam, Deelay Shah, Muhammad Azam, Muhammad Baqir and Muhammad Ashraf.

Police also recovered 10 pistols, five revolvers, eight guns, two carbines, two mausers and 65 bullets.—Nouman