LAKKI MARWAT: Three policemen including an SHO were martyred in a gun attack in Karak district on Wednesday night.

A police official said that the incident occurred in the limits of Banda Daud Shah police station. He said a police party led by SHO Umar Nawaz Khan was ambushed by armed men in the Ahmadi Banda when it was proceeding to a petrol pump on information about a robbery taking place there.

“SHO Nawaz and two constables Altaf and Imtiaz lost their lives in the armed attack while the assailants escaped after the incident,” he maintained. The official said that after the attack, a heavy police contingent led by DPO Shahbaz Elahi reached the venue and launched a search for the attackers.

The funeral prayers of the deceased cops were offered at the police lines in Karak city where senior police officials, area elders and people from different walks of life were in attendance. On the occasion, the district police chief met with the relatives of the deceased policemen and assured them that the perpetrators behind the attack would be brought to justice soon.

Later the bodies were dispatched to their hometowns for burial in ancestral graveyards with full official honour.

On Thursday, police continued the search to find the assailants of the Wednesday night attack in the mountains near Shezadi Banda.

During the search operation, the policemen backed by armed villagers came under attack, triggering an exchange of fire.

Two policemen were reportedly injured in the gun battle and moved to a nearby hospital.

DPO Shahbaz Elahi said that anti-peace elements did not deserve any leniency and they would be brought to justice.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Asad Sarwar visited Tarkha Kehvi area on Thursday and met with the family members of the deceased SHO, Umar Nawaz Khan, and shared his grief and sympathies with them.

He paid rich tributes to the martyred police official and said that the supreme sacrifice he offered in the line of duty would be remembered for a long time.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2025