A policeman was martyred apparently in an act of targeted killing in Korangi on Friday. Police Constable Arif Khan, posted at Madadgar 15, was shot and injured by two men near Mehran Town, the spokesperson for the Karachi police said. The assailants targeted the victim when he was returning home after performing his duty. He was being shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre when he succumbed to his injuries. Hospital officials said the policeman was brought to the hospital dead.
A heavy contingent of law enforcers reached the crime scene and cordoned off the area. Police investigators collected evidence and recorded the statements of witnesses. They were also trying to obtain the CCTV footage to probe the incident.
Police said the killing appeared to be a targeted killing, and that the constable was not wearing his police uniform when he came under attack. The victim was identified through his service card.
According to the Sindh police spokesperson, Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Mehar took notice of the incident and ordered the Korangi SSP to arrest the killers. Khan is the sixth cop who has been targeted and killed in the city during the past few months.
Previous attacks
The last incident of police killing occurred on August 14 when some unidentified assailants killed Head Constable Muhammad Ali in the Karimabad area. Police claimed that his killing was not an act of targeted killing and he was killed over offering resistance to a mugging bid. The rest of the police killing cases are yet to be resolved.
Exactly a week after an assistant sub-inspector was murdered in the Lines Area neighbourhood, Yar Muhammad became the fourth police official to be martyred in four weeks, casting serious doubts on the efficacy of the investigations into the previous such incidents. Yar Muhammad, 54, was shot once in the chest near the Northern Bypass. He had been posted at the Gulshan-e-Maymar police station after his transfer from the Model Colony police station around six months ago. He had also worked under former Malir SSP Rao Anwar.
On July 3, Police Constable Noman Ali was shot in Mehmoodabad on his way home after work. On July 11, Head Constable Asghar Ahmad, 35, was riding his motorbike when the pillion rider on another two-wheeler shot him near Bappan Park in the Korangi No. 5 locality.
On July 23, an ASI was murdered in Lines Area after the policeman identified himself to his assailant. The attack was carried out in the Jut Line (Jutland Lines) locality, which falls in the Brigade police station’s jurisdiction. The deceased police officer was identified as 50-year-old ASI Ghulam Muhammad. His body was taken to the JPMC. Police said the ASI was posted at the investigation wing of the Artillery Maidan police station. They said the officer was a resident of Lines Area and was attacked at a paan shop in the same locality.