HARIPUR: A policeman was killed and two others were injured when masked robbers opened fire at them in the limits of Sera-i-Saleh police station here on Monday.

Officials at a utility store outlet told the police that two masked robbers barged into the store located on the GT Road on Monday afternoon and started collecting cash after holding the salesperson and a customer at gunpoint. The robbers opened fire when the salesperson, Tanvir Ahmed, put up resistance, injuring him and a customer identified as Noor Husain, an Afghan.

The injured salesperson told the police and when the utility store staff passed on the message on wireless to the police, two police riders, Bilal Ahmed and Umair Khan, reached the spot and tried to stop the robbers who fled towards Moonan village.

However, when Umair tried to overpower one of the robbers near the railway crossing of Ali Khan village, he opened fire, leaving the cop critically injured. The injured policeman was taken to the Haripur Trauma Centre, and later to Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad, but he succumbed to wounds before reaching the hospital.

The utility store’s salesperson and customer were admitted to the district headquarter hospital.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2022