KARACHI, Dec 15: Two personnel of the CID police, who had been missing while working on an official task on Friday, were found shot dead on Saturday, police said.

They said that the bullet-riddled bodies of the two policemen were found in the Mochko and Garden areas with a gap of almost 10 hours.

The CID men — Khurram Manzoor and Sohail Yousuf — went missing from the Hub River Road on Friday. The first body was found near Dhobi Ghaat in the Garden area in the early hours. The area police moved the body to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where it was identified as of 35-year-old Khurram Manzoor.

“The victim, a CID police constable, was badly tortured,” said an official at the Garden police station.

“He was also hit by three bullets fired from a very close range. He was a resident of Police Lines in New Karachi. The body was handed over to the family after medico-legal formalities.”

In the second half of the day, another body was found on Suparco Road and was shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi. The victim was clad in shalwar-kameez.

“The body was later identified as of 32-year-old Sohail Yousuf, a CID police constable,” said an official at the Mochko police station. “He got married only three months ago and was a resident of Saeedabad.”

SP-CID Mazhar Mashwani said that the two slain policemen, who were friends and worked together, were on an official assignment when they went missing.

“We believe they both were kidnapped on Friday evening. We have key leads that suggest who could be behind this incident, but I don’t think it would be sensible to share these findings with media at this stage,” he added.

Meanwhile, a police officer, who sustained bullet wounds in an encounter with fleeing bandits on Wednesday night near Pakistan Chowk, died from his wounds at the Civil Hospital.

“The 42-year-old Assistant Sub-Inspector was hit by a single bullet in the head,” said an official at the City Courts police station.

“He was on routine snap checking near Pakistan Chowk when armed men on a motorbike opened fire on a police team which signalled them to stop. One of the suspects was also arrested later. The victim was a resident of Agra Taj Colony and father of six.”

The killing of the three policemen has brought the total number of the policemen killed this year in the metropolis to 112.