KARACHI: A police officer was martyred in Orangi Town on late Saturday night while another officer survived the assassination attempt, according to police.

West SSP Suhai Aziz said that the two police officers, associated with the investigation wing, were eating at a restaurant in Gulshan-i-Bihar, Sector-16, when apparently a lone suspect carrying pistols in his both hands opened an indiscriminate fire on them.

As a result, assistant sub-inspector Akram Khan, 45, suffered multiple bullet wounds and died.

The SSP said that the other ASI, Zafar Husain, survived in the attack though the assailant also targeted him.

The martyred police officer was posted at the Manghopir police station.

“It appeared to be a targeted killing incident,” said the SSP.

The case was handed over to Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) for an investigation.

Senior CTD official Raja Umer Khattab described it as a terror-related incident. He said that the CCTV footage obtained from the restaurant showed that alleged killer wore shalwar-kameez and trimmed beard. He also carried a handkerchief on his shoulder. He said the killer appeared to be a trained killer as he did demonstrate panic while committing the crime.

The officer said that when the surviving police officer took shelter within the restaurant, the assailant came back and opened fire on him but missed the target. The assailant then walked away and looked calm and confident, he added.

The CTD official said that ASIs Akram and Zafar had been posted at the Pakistan Bazaar police station before they were transferred to Manghopir. They also intended to conduct a raid in the area in another case during the night, said Mr Khattab.

Investigators have collected eight spent bullet casings fired from 30-bore pistols from the crime scene. Witnesses told the police that one suspect stayed beside the motorbike, parked outside the restaurant, while another one went inside.

According to the FIR registered at the CTD under terror charges, complainant ASI Zafar Husain said that they were in the area for the investigation into a case and were sitting inside to meet an ‘informer’ when the armed man attacked them.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2021