PESHAWAR: Suspected militants shot dead two guards of a private security company and took away official weapons from them here on Sunday.

An official at Hayatabad police station said the security guards were busy checking a vehicle at a checkpoint when three men riding a motorbike opened fire at them. “One of the guards expired on the spot, while the other succumbed to his wounds at Hayatabad Medical Complex,” added the official.

He identified the victims as Imran Khan of Bannu and Akhtar Zaman of Lakki Marwat.

“They were wearing police uniform, but the badges on the uniform were of the private company,” said the police official, adding that a case against unidentified terrorists had been registered and investigation began.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak condemned the targeted killing of private security guards, and announced Rs500,000 compensation for each of them under the Shuhada Package. He directed crackdown against the culprits involved in the killing of guards.

Mr Khattak said the provincial government was taking concrete steps to eliminate target killers and kidnappers from the province.

Meanwhile, police on Sunday arrested 30 suspected persons and seized weapons from them during a search operation conducted in limits of Peshtakhara police station after the cold blooded murder of four policemen the other day, said an official. He added that all the police stations had been directed to conduct search operations in their limits to hunt down the culprits.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2014