UTP who fled from JPMC may have killed traffic cop: police

Police believe that the under-trial prisoner (UTP) who had escaped from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on January 12 may be responsible for the murder of a traffic policeman earlier this week in the Soldier Bazaar neighbourhood.

Constable Ehtasham Irfan, 22, was gunned down on Nishtar Road. Police said the forensic report of the shell casings found on the crime scene suggests that the cop was martyred with the same weapon that was used to kill two brothers and injure another person in Korangi during a robbery bid in 2018. Police said that on October 1 last year Javed Akhtar, alias Baba, and an accomplice were arrested in connection with the Korangi incident after an exchange of fire during snap checking.

Before the Korangi police arrested them, Akhtar and his accomplice had been detained by the Ferozabad, Kharadar, Preedy and Gulshan-e-Iqbal police for their involvement in different crimes, particularly street crime, added the police.

They said Akhtar was taken from prison to the JPMC for treatment earlier this month, but he snatched a rifle from a policeman and escaped police custody with the help of his associates who had paid him a visit at the hospital.

Police said the search for Akhtar has been intensified after it emerged that he may be responsible for the traffic policeman’s murder, adding that they are also questioning his accomplice, who is still in their custody.