ISLAMABAD: The murder of two officials of the Eagle Squad of the capital police late on Thursday night seemed to be targeted one, according to senior police officers.

The officers told Dawn that a preliminary investigation had suggested that the two officials were moving on a motorcycle when they were targeted by armed men, riding two motorcycles.

The police officers said the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has launched an investigation into the incident. CCTV of the Safe City Project installed on the possible routes of the attackers along with the nearby areas of the crime scene are being collected and would be examined to identify the attackers and the motorcycles they used in the crime, they added.

Head constables Ishtiaq Ranjha and Bashir Shah were on a patrolling duty in Shamas Colony on a motorcycle. They were shot dead by unidentified attackers when they reached Construction Technology and Training Institute at I.J. Principal Road.

Both the officials sustained multiple bullet injuries to upper parts of their bodies and embraced martyrdom on the spot. Circumstances suggested that there were more than two assailants who targeted the officials with different weapons, said the officers.

Over a dozen bullet shells were recovered from the spot and confiscated for investigation. They said it seemed that first the pillion rider fell on the road after being hit and later the head constable who was driving the bike.

The CTD registered a case under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and 302, 353 and 186 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in response to a complaint lodged by Station House Officer (SHO) Shams Colony, Amir Abbas.

According to the FIR, the SHO along with a subordinate was patrolling the area in a private care. On the service road adjacent to I-12 at around 10:50pm, he spotted the two officials of the Eagle Squad and four people on two Honda 125 chasing them, it added.

The riders of the Honda 125 bikes opened indiscriminate fire on the two Eagle Squad officials from a close range, the FIR said, adding as a result the policemen sustained bullet injuries and fell on the road.

The SHO fired at the attackers who also retaliated and escaped, it said. The two police officials died on the spot, said the SHO.

It was the second incident in three months in which the police were targeted. On March 8, a patrolling team, comprising an SI and two constables, were targeted by gunmen at a halting point set up at Container Chowk in G-13. A constable, Mohammad Qasim, was martyred while an SI and another head constable were injured.

Meanwhile, the funeral of the martyred police officials was held at the Police Lines Headquarters and attended among others by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Qazi Jamliur Rehman, Rangers Sector Commander Brig Haneefullah, SSP (Operations) Dr Syed Mustafa Tanweer and families of the martyred officials, said the police.

Head constable Ishtiaq Ranjha belonged to the district of Sargodha and head constable Bashir Shah hailed from Haripur.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2021