ISLAMABAD, July 7: Robbers shot dead an assistant sub-inspector when he tried to intercept them while they were escaping along with a snatched car here on Saturday, police said.

The ASI Asghar Abbasi, a native of Abbottabad, was one of the most effective officials of Anti-Car Lifting Cell and during his tenure he busted various gangs of auto-thieves and arrested dozens of culprits from Islamabad and other parts of the country, besides recovering stolen vehicles.

His senior colleagues considered his murder a great loss to the capital police and the ACLC.

According to police, a three-member gang lifted a black Toyota GLI, model 2001 from F-10/2. First they unlocked the car by breaking its rear window. When they saw the car owner, Amir Buksh, coming towards him they made him hostage at gunpoint and dragged him in the car.

They threw the owner in Sector G-8 and escaped. The owner immediately informed the police who alerted all the patrolling teams and officials deployed at checkpoints.

Shortly, police teams, including ACLC, deployed at checkpoint at Ninth Avenue, spotted the car and the ASI tried to intercept it. But the car lifters opened fire on the ASI as a result of which he fell on the road and started bleeding.

The culprits succeeded in escaping towards Sector I-8 where a police patrolling team, riding on a motorcycle, spotted it and started chasing the car. At one time the culprits hit the motorcycle when the patrolling team tried to intercept them and as a result they fell on the road.

Later, the culprits entered a closed-end street where they left the car and escaped on foot.The ASI Asghar Abbasi was shifted to hospital where he died.