DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The brother of former IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Salahuddin Mehsud was shot dead shortly after being kidnapped by unknown motorcyclists.

Giving details in a press conference on Friday, District Police Officer (DPO) Waqar Ahmed stated that four unknown assailants, riding two motorcycles, kidnapped Malik Ghulam Habib Mehsud while he was heading home and later killed him.

Shortly after the incident, a police vehicle of SHO Gomal was travelling along a road when they spotted motorcyclists rapidly proceeding from a dirt road onto a main road.

Becoming suspicious, the police attempted to intercept one of the motorcycles, aboard which two assailants were whisking away Ghulam Habib. However, the motorcyclists accelerated instead.

As policemen started chasing them, the motorcyclists opened fire on the police party and five bullets pierced through the vehicle. However, policemen remained unhurt. The police also retaliated and injured one of the assailants and started a search in their pursuit.

In the meanwhile, the SHO sent a message to the control room about firing at his vehicle. Upon receiving the call, all available SHOs and other senior police officers, including the DPO himself rushed to the site.

Upon the arrival of the additional police personnel, one of the motorcycles was discovered abandoned in a stream, left behind by the assailants as the police pursued and engaged them.

The assailants had retreated into a densely forested area situated on the left side of the main road, known as Dabara.

He further explained that after alerting all the police stationed at checkpoints, the abductors found themselves unable to take Ghulam Habib with them. Consequently, they killed Ghulam Habib, and his body was found near Manzai, Gondola Road.

PPP condemns killing

Meanwhile, Faisal Karim Kundi, Pakistan Peoples Party Central Information Secretary, denounced the killing of the former IG’s brother and extended his condolences to the victim’s family.

Mr Kundi said that the killing of former IG’s brother is a very sad and condemnable incident.

“We share in the grief of Salahuddin Mehsud and his family in this hour of sorrow,” he said.

Attack on police van

In a similar incident, three unknown armed motorcyclists fired upon the mobile van of the Station House Officer (SHO) of Gomal Police Station on Wana Road, near Custom Pump, within the jurisdiction of Shaheed Murreed Akbar (SMA) police station in Tank District, as stated by a police official on Wednesday.

In response, the police swiftly retaliated, resulting in injuries to one of the attackers. The police officers remained unharmed during the exchange of gunfire.

The assailants managed to flee the scene by taking a dirt path. Upon receiving the report of the incident, a heavy police contingent promptly arrived at the location and initiated a search operation in the area.

Policeman’s relative killed

In another incident, a relative of a policeman, involved in the killing of a most wanted TTP terrorist named Bali Khiyara, was shot dead by unknown militants in the Kattakhel area of Nawab Shaheed police station, a police official said on Friday.

An official from Nawab Shaheed Police said that the son of Sher Afzal Marwat, a resident of Katta Khel, filed a report invoking terrorism and murder charges.

The report stated that his brother, Muhammad Ali, was returning home from his fields when he reached at the Kattakhel area, unknown armed assailants fatally shot him.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2023