ISLAMABAD: Two personnel of the Punjab Elite Force were injured when one of them accidentally fired a bullet, hitting both.

Earlier, it was suspected that the personnel were shot and injured by unidentified gunmen, who attacked at the joint patrolling team and later disappeared.

A police officer said that a joint team of Rangers and Punjab Elite Force, each comprising six personnel, were patrolling in the area and when they reached at a designated point at Municipal Road near Lal Masjid they stopped a distance of 15 to 20 feet.

One of the officials of the elite force handed over his weapon to his colleague and went to attend a call of nature.

The bullet first injured the hand of the official carrying it and then pierced into another official’s body standing beside him. The bullet ruptured his ribs and lungs, before getting stuck in his backbone, he added.

He was shifted to the Polyclinic in a critical condition and had been kept in the ICU. Doctors described next 24 hours critical for him, he added.

Another officer said that after getting the information the area police and senior officers reached the spot and inquired about the incident, but the personnel of the joint team failed to narrate the circumstances under which they were injured.

Later the personnel of the elite force were taken to a police station where the officials, from whom the weapon went off accidentally, narrated the event.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2014