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Published 01 Dec, 2011 10:06pm

Killing on motorway: Police hunting for ANF driver

RAWALPINDI, Dec 1: The police are hunting for one of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) officials who opened fire on a Lahore-bound passenger van killing two persons on the motorway near Tarnol on Sunday.

The police said ANF sub-inspector Mohammad Munir and constable Mohammad Qasim had already been caught while fleeing from the scene after the incident but the driver of their official vehicle, Sajid Fazal, is still at large.

“Yes, raids are underway to capture the man who was driving the official vehicle of ANF when his two men opened fire on a passenger wagon. Driver Sajid Fazal, a resident of Arjun Nagar, is missing from his house and absent from duty since Monday,” said police investigating officer sub-inspector Malik Rafaqat.

He added: “Police are investigating people from all around the scene of the crime but it appears the murder of the two persons was motiveless.”

Police said the ANF personnel were not authorised to check vehicles - especially passenger buses or wagons - on the motorway.

During search, no contraband item or narcotics were found from the suspected van except some pieces of cloth.

A police team investigating into the killing of the two passengers visited the crime scene and interviewed several people to establish the circumstances in which the ANF men had opened fire on the van.

Driver of the passenger van Mohammad Baz Khan alleged in his complaint that ANF men standing near Tarnol signaled him to stop and started chasing him even after he took to the motorway. He said the ANF officials opened fire before he could stop the vehicle which was traveling at a high speed.

As the wagon came to a halt, the driver found one of the passengers screaming who later died on the spot. He was identified as Fazle Amin, a cloth merchant.

The driver said his 18-year-old son Asad Khan, who worked with him as a conductor, was shot and injured critically and died on way to hospital.

Drivers traveling on the motorway had planned to block the motorway in protest against the killing but the police convinced them not to do so, as the two ANF personnel have been arrested and the murder weapon recovered from them.The accused have been in remand custody and the police will produce them in the court of law on Friday to seek their physical remand for two more days.

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