RAWALPINDI, Sept 20: A police officer was gunned down while a young man was found murdered in different parts of the city on Thursday.

Sub-Inspector Azhar Baloch was shot dead by unidentified persons a few metres from the Ratta police post, where he was the additional in-charge.

Police said when Mr Baloch reached his residence after finishing duty at midnight, he received a phone call and returned to the office on his motorcycle. However, he was targeted before reaching the post.

On hearing the gunshot, some people from the nearby area reached the scene and found the SI lying in a pool of blood. The victim was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

According to postmortem examination, the victim received five bullet injuries to his chest.

Police suspected that a group involved in drug peddling could be behind the murder as the deceased had launched a crackdown against them and arrested several suspects.

Meanwhile, Zameeruddin Khan, 20, was shot dead by some unidentified persons in the limit of Chontra police.

The victim, who was a conductor in a passenger van, left his house on Wednesday but did not return home till night.

His father said in his statement that he started search for his son after finding his cellphone switched off. On Thursday morning, he was informed by someone that his son’s body was lying along a roadside. The victim’s father suspected that the owner of the passenger van could be involved in the murder of his son.