Traffic section incharge hurt in Nazimabad shooting

A senior traffic policeman posted as incharge of the Nazimabad Traffic Section was shot and injured by unidentified assailants near Larosh Hotel on Wednesday.

Nazimabad police SHO Rizwan Haider said 40-year-old Sub-Inspector Irshad Shaukat was deployed for VIP movement near Larosh Hotel when three men on a motorcycle shot and injured him.

The SHO said Irshad, in his statement to the police, claimed he had blocked vehicular traffic in the area for VIP movement but a motorcycle carrying three men broke the cordon as it exited the Nazimabad underpass.

Irshad said that as he tried to stop the motorcycle from proceeding further, the riders shot him once in the leg and fled. He was admitted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) for treatment where doctors later declared his condition out of danger.

The SHO said an empty casing of a 30-bore pistol’s bullet was found at the site and sent for forensics. However, while talking to The News, District Central SSP Irfan Baloch presented quite a different version of the incident.

According to him, there was no VIP movement in the area at the time and SI Irshad had been embroiled in a dispute with the driver of a truck he had stopped. The SSP said someone opened firing during this time and the cop was shot in his leg. He confirmed that a 30-bore pistol was used in the attack but said SI Irshad was also carrying his personal 30-bore pistol at the time. In conclusion, SSP Baloch said the shooting was not a targeted attack but added that police would issue a final statement upon completion of investigation.