Another US diplomat hits two motorcyclists

ISLAMABAD: While a US diplomat is already facing travel restrictions after killing a young man in a road accident in the federal capital, another US diplomat rammed his jeep into two bike riders near the Secretariat Chowk on Sunday night, injuring them seriously.

In the first incident, 22-year-old Ateeq Baig was killed after being hit by the vehicle of US diplomat Col Joseph Emmanuel near the Daman-e-Koh Chowk on April 7. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had taken notice of the incident and sent a notice to the Interior Ministry. The ministry submitted a report to a bench of the Islamabad High Court, stating that Col Joseph had been blacklisted and travel restrictions placed on him.

The two bikers, injured on Sunday, were shifted to the PIMS in critical condition, while the diplomatic vehicle was seized and taken to the police station. As per preliminary information, the accused is the Second Secretary with the US embassy.

The diplomat was heading towards a local hotel when he rammed his jeep (QN-734) into their bike bearing registrationnumber ARM-935. The police reached the scene soon after getting information but the accused locked himself up in his jeep and avoided coming out. However, the police convinced him to come out of the jeep and shifted the vehicle to police station. One of the injured bike riders was identified as Nazakat Awan, a resident of Muzaffarabad. He is an employee of Motamar-e-Alam-e-Islami.