CHARSADDA, Feb 19: A policeman was killed when unidentified persons attacked a checkpost in Kula Dher area on Charsadda-Mardan Road on Tuesday morning.

The assailants opened firing on constables Azmat, who was manning the checkpost, sources said. He was killed on the spot, they added.

Constable Ibad said that he was on the other side of the road to perform duty when a car stopped at some distance from the checkpost and picked up two men, who came out of the nearby fields of sugarcane.

They drove the car towards the security post, he said, adding as soon as they reached near the post they opened firing on Azmat, killing him instantly. Ibad said that he retaliated but the assailants managed to escape.DPO Mohammad Nisar Ali Marwat, DSP Arif Khan and City SHO Rokhan Zeb reached the spot soon after the incident. Police cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.

SHO Rokhan Zeb told Dawn that a suspected person was arrested in the operation.

The funeral prayers of Azmat were offered at Charsadda Police Lines that were attended by DPO and other police officers. Guard of honour was presented to the killed policeman.

Later his body was dispatched to his native town Umarzai where he was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard.

Azamt was the lone bread earner of his family. He left behind a widow and two sons to mourn his death.

TRADERS: The local traders have criticised the assistant commissioner for launching what they call a so-called anti-encroachment drive in Charsadda Bazaar.

They asked the provincial government and Awami National Party leadership to take notice of the anti-traders attitude of the assistant commissioner.

In this connection a joint meeting of Muttahida Shopkeepers Federation and Tajir Ittehad Charsadda was held here on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by trader leaders Hakimullah Fauji, Maulana Slahuddin Shakir, Haji Sadiqullah, Haji Iftikhar Hussain, Mian Mufariq Shah Bacha, Haji Kausar Khan, Haji Anwar Khan and Habibullah. They alleged that the so-called anti-encroachment drive affected thousands of traders in Charsadda Bazaar.—Correspondent