KARACHI: A policeman was shot dead on the outskirts of the city, police said on Saturday.

They said that Sub-Inspector Ghulam Qadir Shar, 55, the office in charge of the Ahsanabad police post, was on his way on a motorcycle to the SITE Superhighway police station late on Friday night to prepare a reply to be submitted before a district judge in the morning.

When he reached near a textile mill on Mehtabuddin Chawla Road off Superhighway, two armed pillion riders intercepted him, held him at gunpoint and snatched his wallet that contained cash, his police and computerised national identity cards, they said.

As the officer put up resistance, the suspects fired at him and rode away, the police said, adding that he sustained a single bullet wound in the chest. The bullet was fired from a .30-bore pistol.

Despite being critically wounded, he contacted the area SHO from his mobile phone. The SHO reached the scene but by that time SI Qadir fell unconscious. Instead of waiting for an ambulance, the police took him in their mobile van to the Aga Khan University Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

The body was later shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital to fulfil medico-legal formalities.

On Saturday morning, his funeral prayer was held at the Garden Police Headquarters. Inspector General of Police Dr Kaleem Imam, Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon and other senior officers attended the funeral prayer.

The body was handed over to his relatives for burial in his native place in Shaheed Benazirabad district.

Meanwhile, the IGP took notice of the killing and sought a detailed report from the Malir SSP, said a police spokesperson.

Malir SSP Irfan Bahadur said that the police launched an investigation into the incident and investigators collected evidence from the crime scene.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2019