KARACHI, July 15: Armed motorcyclists on Friday intercepted a car carrying two policemen escorting a suspect to the city courts and got him freed by firing into the air and leaving one of the policemen wounded.

According to officials, the two policemen — Sub-Inspector Mohammad Sohail and Constable Shakeel Ahmed — were escorting the suspected drug peddler to the city courts in a private car when the armed men attacked the vehicle in Nazimabad.

Both the policemen, belonging to the Sir Syed police station, were arrested when they failed to perform their duties.

“The policemen were on their way to the city courts to produce the suspect, Faisal Qureshi alias Munna, before a judge,” said Sub-Inspector Muhammad Tufail, the SHO of the Nazimabad police station.

“As their car reached near the Nazimabad Inquiry Office bus stop, three men riding two motorbikes emerged and intercepted the four-wheeler.

One of them fired shots into the air while the another one unlocked the car’s door from outside and dragged the suspect out of it. The attackers along with the freed suspect fled the scene in a flash.”

He said the daredevil attempt by the armed riders lasted only a few seconds and did not meet proper resistance from the policemen. The two officials were later detained by the Nazimabad police, he added.

“During a brief scuffle with the armed riders, Constable Shakeel Ahmed sustained minor stabbing wounds. As stated by the policemen, the attackers were carrying pistols and daggers and might have been waiting for the car at the Inquiry Office bus stop,” added the SHO.

He said the wounds of the injured policeman were not of serious nature. He was brought back to the Nazimabad police station after necessary treatment and medico-legal formalities at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, he added.

Officials at the Sir Syed police station claimed that Munna was arrested on Thursday night after a ‘brief shootout’ in Sector 11-E of North Karachi.

He was wanted by the police in four cases of drug peddling and was declared a ‘proclaimed offender’ in two of the cases.

“Recently, a case (FIR No.382/2011) was registered against him under Section 6/9-C of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act at the Sir Syed police station.

He is a professional criminal and known drug peddler. On Thursday night, he was arrested with nearly one kilogram of hashish,” said Malik Zafar Iqbal, the SP of New Karachi Town.

The SP admitted that a serious lack of professionalism was showed by the policemen, who were associated with the investigation section of the Sir Syed police station, while they were escorting the suspect to the city courts.

“An investigation is under way to ascertain any insider’s role in the entire episode but we have not yet found any such clue,” the officer said. “We have, however, suspended the SHO of the Sir Syed police station, who failed to ensure proper arrangements for the transport of the suspect.”

However, the Nazimabad police had not registered an FIR against the two policemen till midnight, saying the officials were detained and being interrogated. Surprisingly, SP of Liaquatabad Town Naveed Khawaja expressed his unawareness about any such incident having taken place in the area of his responsibilities.

“There is as such no reason for delaying the registration of an FIR but we are gathering facts and hope to register the case once the initial probe with the required facts is completed,” said the SHO of the Nazimabad police station.