KARACHI: A policeman was martyred and another suffered bullet wounds on Sharea Faisal in an attack near Karachi airport on Wednesday.

Malir SSP Dr Abdul Khaliq Pirzada told Dawn that policemen were patrolling Sharea Faisal when they spotted a man in a rickshaw and two motorcyclists near Colony Gate.

Presuming them to be suspicious, they stopped them and asked for identity documents. One of the motorcyclists said he did not possess his computerised national identity card (CNIC). He showed one of the policemen his Covid vaccination certificate and suddenly took out his pistol and opened fire. As a result, Constable Asad Asmatullah died on the spot while Constable Amir Khan suffered bullet wounds.

The suspects managed to escape.

The SSP said investigators were verifying the Covid certificate to ascertain the possible identity of the killers.

Later in the evening, police claimed to have arrested two suspects and said efforts were on to arrest their third accomplice.

Suspect shot dead in ‘encounter’

A suspected robber was gunned down in an alleged encounter in New Karachi on Wednesday.

A police spokesperson said that police indicated two bikers to stop for checking near the Govt Girls Degree College in Sector-11. However, the suspects opened fire. In an ensuing exchange of firing, one suspect was shot and arrested. However, he died on way to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

The deceased was identified as Meraj alias Merri.

The police said that his brother, Mir Balach, was also killed in a police encounter in 2024. Their father, Ibrahim, was also accidentally killed in a police action, they added.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2026