KARACHI: A policeman was shot dead near the UBL Sports Complex on Rashid Minhas Road by a lone robber who also took away his pistol and motorbike, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed.

The Jauharabad police said that Constable Shabbir Ahmed, 38, was shot dead by an unknown man.

However, senior CTD official Raja Umer Khattab ruled out the possibility of a targeted attack and said that it appeared to be a robbery-murder.

CCTV footage went viral on social media showed that a motorcyclist shot at and wounded the policeman riding a motorbike and attempted to flee. However, the attacker’s bike apparently developed some fault and he left his two-wheeler, took the motorcycle of the wounded cop and rode away.

Later, the policeman was taken to the Aga Khan University Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Central SSP Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi told the media that investigators collected 11 spent bullet casings from the scene.

However, Mr Khattab said that it appeared that the killer had tried to loot the policeman who was wearing a shirt over his police uniform.

The suspect opened indiscriminate fire when he put up resistance and fled along with the constable’s personal 9mm pistol.

He said that the killer’s bike was stolen within the remit of the Jauharabad police station in April.

He said that a bag was also found from the killer’s motorbike that contained three cell phones snatched from different parts of district Central on Wednesday.

He said the circumstantial evidence showed that the murder of the policeman was related to robbery and not targeted killing.

A post-mortem examination was carried out at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that the constable sustained four bullet wounds in the chest, arm and legs.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2024