LAHORE: Influenced by popular online game PUBG: Battlegrounds, which is criticised for its violent content, a desperate criminal allegedly shot a young Dolphin personnel dead and critically injured another at Y Block, Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

According to his colleagues, the deceased personnel, Hafiz Nouman, was very excited when he shared the news of becoming father for the first time with them a few days back.

Married a year back, Nouman was a resident of Shakargarh.

According to the initial police investigations, the gunman fired three bullets targeting Nouman’s chest from a distance of two feet, when he and his fellow Constable Mohsin rounded him up in a busy area of DHA. One of the bullets pierced Nouman’s lungs, later proving fatal.

The two personnel had responded to a man’s call, informing them about an armed man looting people on the road at gunpoint, when they were patrolling in the area.

Another cop injured by the suspect fighting for life in hospital

The gunman also shot Constable Mohsin twice, in his chest and leg. Mohsin is still struggling for life in the hospital where he had also undergone a major surgery.

After shooting the constables, the criminal fled the scene taking cover of aerial fire, an official said, adding that he was later traced in Pattoki where he was living in the guise of a kiln worker.

He was later “killed by his own accomplices” during an encounter with police.

Identified as Asif alias Asu, the criminal was a resident of Karbath village, notorious for housing criminals involved in extortion, murder, attempted murder and street crime, a police official told Dawn.

The incident has exposed the department’s indifference to the safety and security of the Dolphin Force as 12 personnel of the squad have so far been injured, some of them critically, during the last few years, while responding to street crime in Lahore.

Ignoring the fact that Dolphin personnel’s lives are at greater risk for being the first responders to the street crime calls, the department seems to have failed to properly impart them the precautionary techniques while encountering hardened criminals.

There are also reports that the Dolphin personnel are not wearing bulletproof jackets or other safety kits, which could help protect them in case of armed attack by criminals.

In the DHA incident, the two Dolphin constables suffered four out of five bullets fired on them in the chest.

Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar told Dawn the police department has provided the Dolphin with bulletproof jackets to ensure their safety. However, he admitted, it was very hard to wear the jackets all the time.

A police official said quoting locals that Asu was chronically addicted to PUBG game and influenced by its violent content had targeted several persons in the past.

This is not the first time that the controversial online game has led to violent crime and deaths, he said.

Last year, in Lahore, he said, a 14-year-old boy had allegedly shot his entire family dead, including mother and two minor sisters, allegedly “under the influence” of the same online game in Kahna area.

The Lahore police authorities had called for banning the game in Pakistan and the issue had reached the power corridors when the written recommendations were moved for a serious consideration.

He said that the infamous online game again landed in controversy when a 16-year-old boy, influenced by the game, allegedly shot his mother dead.

The police official apprehended that if not checked the addiction of the online game could result in more violent incidents.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2023