BATTAGRAM: Unidentified assailants shot dead a police constable while performing duty at the District Headquarter Hospital, Battagram, on Wednesday morning.

Around 5am, unidentified persons approached the post inside the DHQ Hospital and knocked at the door. As constable Niaz Mohammad Shah opened the door, they started indiscriminate fire and then fled the scene.

A doctor said the wounded constable was provided first aid in the hospital emergency, from where, due to his critical condition, he was referred to Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, but he breathed his last before reaching the major health facility.

District police officer Mohammad Ayaz Khan said they were investigating the case from different angles; whether he was killed due to personal enmity or this was an act of terrorism.

The deceased’s father, Akbar Shah, who is also a constable deputed at Shamlai police station, said they had no personal enmity in the area and his son was innocent.

The funeral prayers of the deceased were offered at the Police Lines Battagram, after which his body was shifted to his native Shamlai area for burial.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2025