KARACHI: Assailants riding a motorbike shot dead a traffic police constable and wounded another on busy Abul Hasan Ispahani Road in the Gulshan-i-Iqbal area on Monday evening, police said.

The incident, the second one in less than four days as three policemen were killed in Korangi on July 21, has left a question mark over the effectiveness of the targeted operation in Karachi and the performance of the law enforcement agencies.

Sohrab Goth DSP Khalid Khan said that two traffic policemen were performing their duty near the Paradise Bakery traffic signal when armed pillion riders came close to them, fired at them from a very close range and rode away.

As a result, Head Constable Mohammad Khan and Constable Kamran suffered serious bullet wounds and were shifted to a nearby private hospital in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, where doctors pronounced Khan dead.

Renewed wave of killings puts question mark on targeted operation

The deceased sustained a bullet wound to the head, while the wounded constable was shot in the chest. The DSP said that the two policemen wore their bulletproof vests when the attackers fired at them.

Counter-Terrorism Department SSP Omar Shahid Hamid told Dawn that investigators collected seven spent bullet casings fired from a 9mm pistol from the scene of the crime.

Before fleeing, the culprits also took away the MP-5 rifle of the wounded constable, he said, adding that the assailants covered their faces with surgical masks.

SSP East Irfan Baloch told Dawn that four policemen patrolling on two motorbikes saw two suspects on a two-wheeler near Maskan Chowrangi on the same Abul Hasan Ispahani Road and signalled them to stop. However, the assailants resorted to firing and the police returned fire. The suspects managed to escape towards Gulistan-i-Jauhar, the SSP said.

He said that the policemen had targeted the tyres of the fleeing suspects’ motorcycle and one of them might have suffered a bullet wound.

He said the police believed the suspects were actually the ones who had earlier targeted the traffic policemen since they fired at the police with the snatched MP-5 rifle.

Investigators collected around 10-15 spent bullet casings fired from the MP-5 rifle from the crime scene.

The incident took place despite the fact that the Karachi police was put on red alert following the Lahore blast that claimed around two dozen lives earlier in the day.

This was the second deadly attack on police in less than a week.

On July 21, three policemen and a 12-year-old boy were killed by six gunmen riding on three motorcycles in Korangi. The attack left a passer-by wounded.

The attack, which came as a grim reminder of the targeted killing of policemen and a retired army officer in the past few months, raises questions about the success of the intelligence-based targeted operations in the city.

“Today’s incident appeared to be part of a recent wave of attacks on law enforcers in the city,” opined SSP Hamid.

He said that the footage from CCTV cameras showed that it was the peak of rush hour. The traffic policemen were seen regulating traffic and also they wore bulletproof jackets, he added.

Meanwhile, Sindh police chief A.D. Khowaja took notice of the incident and directed the DIG East to submit a detailed report. He also issued directions that a special team should be set up to arrest the culprits involved in the incident.

Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal also took notice of the deadly attack and sought a report from the Karachi police chief.

He also directed the authorities concerned to conduct snap-checking and to beef up security.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2017