Two policemen guarding Ismaili Shia community shot killed
KARACHI, Pakistan – Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Two policemen deployed for the security of the Ismaili Shia community’s residential complex were shot dead at a checkpoint in the Sachal area on Saturday noon, according to officials.
Police constables Ali Raza, 50, and Ghulam Jaffer, 46, were targeted at the checkpoint set up outside Jeewani Heights, off the Superhighway, by four armed motorcyclists, said Gadap SP Chaudhry Saifullah.
The attackers also took away their official weapons, the officer said. Both policemen were rushed to the nearby Dow varsity hospital where doctors declared constable Ali Raza dead on arrival, said Sohrab Goth.
The Sacchal police registered on Sunday an FIR No 435/15 under sections 302/34, 404 of the Pakistan Penal Code and section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The case was registered against unidentified persons on behalf of the state.
So far this year, 79 policemen have been killed in such targeted attacks in Karachi alone. Shortly after the incident, the responsibility of the attack was claimed by the banned militant outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. However, there was no major breakthrough in the investigations. Police officials investigating the case said that the empty shells of the pistols used in the incident have been sent to the forensic laboratory of the Sindh police for the purpose of ballistics matching and that the investigators were waiting for the report.
In several such attacks in the past, the assailants have been seen to take away the officials’ sub-machineguns (SMGs) with them after committing the crime. “We are also studying previous such cases, particularly in which the culprits took the officials’ weapons away with them after targeting the policemen,” said a police official of Sacchal police station, Shaukat Memon. Police officials were also getting help through geo-fencing and trying to find witnesses to help in drawing sketches.
Nearly 45 people belonging to the Ismaili Shiite community lost their lives while nearly half a dozen others were wounded when armed men barged into a bus and targeted them on May 13 this year. The key suspects involved in the deadly bus attack have already been arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). Police officials said that the suspects arrested in the bus attack will also be questioned as it was possible that members of the same group were behind the incident. Further investigations are underway.
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