August 13, 2008	Wednesday	Sha’aban 10, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 12: An extraordinary security protocol, on a par with that of the president and the premier, was accorded to a delegation of the International Cricket Council’s task force that visited the city on Tuesday.

The delegation is on a visit to Pakistan to assess the security measures for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy scheduled to begin in September.

Like the ‘Intizam duty’ arranged for the prime minister and the president, policemen were posted along the route on Sharea Faisal starting from the airport and up to Club Road from 9am.

After an hour delayed landing at the airport, the delegates were taken to the National Stadium in a hired bus having extraordinary security features. All the connecting roads were blocked by the police and even pedestrians were not allowed to use the pavements.

A similar security protocol was accorded to the ICC team on their way to the hotel where it is staying in the city.

The delegation’s cavalcade also included a jammer jeep.

Shot dead

Two policemen and a watchman were shot dead by unknown persons in the small hours of Tuesday near Rehri Goth in the limits of Bin Qasim Town.

Police said that constables Mohammad Aslam and Mohammad Boota were posted at a police picket set up at the rooftop of the Government Model School, Rehri Goth.

They said that a watchman of the school, Roshan Khan, was also asleep with the two policemen when at 5am an unknown number of people in a car and some riding a motorcycle came to the spot. Apparently two to three persons went up the roof of the school and sprayed the three persons fast asleep with bullets.

They said that while fleeing the suspects also took away an official AK-47 rifle of one of the policemen.

Police said that all the three men died on the spot. Later, the bodies were shifted to the JPMC.

Following the official funeral prayers held at the Hasan Square Headquarters, bodies of the two policemen were sent to their native towns of Jhang and Faisalabad for burial.

Earlier, on Monday night a sub-inspector was also shot dead by unknown persons in Garden area near Garden police lines. However, a senior police officer observed that apparently the two incidents were not linked.

Suicide

An alleged dacoit shot himself to death when he failed to flee after looting a house and was surrounded by area people in Korangi on Tuesday, police said.

Police said that the unidentified bandit barged into the house of Hameedur Rehman in Sector 48-E, Korangi, and after looting the house attempted to escape however by that time the occupants of the house had already raised alarm.

ASI Aslam Gondal of the investigation wing of the Zaman town police station said that when the bandit found no way out from the clutches of the area people he took his own life.