NEW DELHI / LUCKNOW: An officer of India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) was shot dead in Bijnor district of western Uttar Pradesh, official sources said on Sunday.

Tanzil Ahmed was with his wife and two children when the attack took place late on Saturday.

He was shot more than two dozen times, NIA sources said. Tanzil’s wife Farzana told investigators that the assailants were professionals and used automatic weapons.

She was injured in the attack as gunmen pumped four bullets into her.

“The manner in which the officer was ambushed and the count of bullets fired suggest that the assailants wanted to make sure that Tanzil does not survive the attack,” said a senior officer associated with the investigation.

“Though we are yet to establish the exact number of bullet injuries, the officer suffered multiple wounds,” he said.

While Tanzil was rushed to a medical facility in Moradabad where he was pronounced dead, his wife was rushed to a hospital in Noida where her condition was said to be critical.

Teams from NIA and UP’s special task force and anti-terrorist squad are investigating the case.

Gunmen on two motorbikes intercepted Tanzil’s car and opened indiscriminate on him from a close range. His two children — aged eight and 10 years — had a narrow escape.

They were in the backseat of the car at the time of the attack, police said.

NIA Inspector General Sanjeev Kumar said that Tanzil was a dedicated and competent officer and joined his organisation in 2009. He was an assistant commandant with the Border Security Force and was working as DSP at NIA on deputation.

“Investigations are continuing,” Kumar said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters in Lucknow that he had been apprised of the incident. “Whatever is necessary is being done. We are talking (to NIA officers),” he said.

There were reports that Tanzil was nominated as the liaison officer for the visit of Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team which was recently in India to investigate the Pathankot terrorist attack.

There were unconfirmed reports that Tanzil was also associated with the Pathankot probe and had played an important role in investigations into the Bijnor blast being investigated by the NIA.

However, NIA officers said the slain officer was not part of the team investigating the Pathankot attack.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2016