SWAT, Sept 20: A policeman was killed when an explosive device went off at the Pak-Austrian Institute for Tourism and Hotel Management in Charbagh area on Thursday. Official sources said that the remote-control device had been planted near the guard room of the institute.

Three policemen, on a routine patrol, had stopped near the institute. They were in the guard room when the explosion took place.

Head constable Fazal Nawab was severely injured in the blast and later died in the Saidu Sharif Hospital. Two policemen and two security guards of the institute also suffered injuries. One seriously injured policeman was taken to Peshawar for treatment.

The guard room was partially damaged and window-panes of several nearby buildings were shattered.

An exchange of fire at the same place between local Taliban militants and personnel of police and the Frontier Constabulary on Aug 31 had left two FC men killed and six others injured.The principal of the institute rejected suggestions that militants were targeting the institute.