LAHORE: A seven-year-old girl suffered gunshot wound after a team of Dolphin Force opened fire on a suspected drug peddler in Pathi Ground, Naulakha, on Sunday.

Preliminary police inquiry showed four Dolphin Force officials were chasing a suspect, identified as Asif Masih, who had ignored their signal to stop on the McLeod Road. The suspect opened fire on policemen who retaliated it with firing.

During the crossfire, a girl, identified as Hadia Rizwan, who was playing outside her home received a bullet in her leg and fell unconscious.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Dr Haider Ashraf told Dawn the girl was accidentally injured by the bullet fired by Constable Shahid who was aiming at the suspect. He said Dolphin officials were chasing the suspect and they did capture him later. He said a case was lodged against Shahid on the complaint of Hadia’s father and departmental inquiry had been launched to probe the negligence. He said the girl was in a stable condition.

This was the first such incident since the launch of Dolphin Force a few months ago. Its officials, trained at the Elite Police Training School Bedian, usually carry two weapons each.

Published in Dawn September 5th, 2016