PESHAWAR, July 8: The police force has been demoralised after the killings of five police officials in Mathra locality and the failure of police high-ups in not taking any action against the alleged murderers nominated in the FIRs.

In three separate incidents in the last few months in Mathra, SHO Hussainzada, DFO Mohammad Irshad, SHO’s gunman Shad Mohammad, Investigation SHO Shaz Ali Khan and his mohrar, Zarghon Shah, were killed and SHO Gulab Khan, constable Haider Ali and constable Shakirullah injured.

“The police bosses had planned to launch full-scale operation against the criminals after the first incident of killing the on-duty police officials in Mathra, but two provincial ministers belonging to the area halted the operation,” police officials told Dawn on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday.

NWFP Minister of Zakat and Ushr, Hafiz Hasmat Khan and provincial Information Minister Asif Iqbal, allegedly stopped the police from taking any action. Their “interference” not only demoralised the police force, but also made the outlaws more strong, who later killed two more police officials and injured three others in separate ambushes, they said.

These incidents also exposed the weaknesses of Capital City Police chief Tanvir-ul-Haq Sipra, who, under the influence of the ministers, came to the negotiating table with the elders of Mathra.

The CCP chief was quite optimistic that the elders would hand over the wanted criminals to police. But the elders refused to accept that the wanted people were guilty and even accused the police of killing an innocent person during the first encounter.

“After the rapid incidents of police killings, no official is willing to get engaged into an encounter with the hardened criminals who have more sophisticated weapons than the police force as they think that nobody will come to support his family if he is killed,” a source opined.

Another reason was that Operation SSP Khalid Habib Khan, who belonged to Pajjagi area in the limits of Mathra police station, also did not want to “create problem for himself” in the area by launching an operation against the criminals, the source maintained.

Two roads, leading to Jamrood in Khyber Agency and Michani in Mohmand Agency, also played a role in the failure of police in arresting the criminals in Mathra locality. After killing the policemen the murderers fled to tribal regions, police officials said.

But the supporters of alleged murderers were still at large despite two anti-criminal operations after the last incidents four weeks ago when the outlaws injured Mathra SHO and two other on-duty police officials.

Sources in police opined that had the action been taken soon after the first incident in Mathra, the outlaws could not have dared to continue attacks on the police force.