Karachi: At least four policemen were gunned down on Thursday morning raising the total death toll to 12 in past 24 hours and security concerns as paramilitary rangers were also attacked overnight.
Police sources said that early on Thursday morning at least six unknown attackers riding on motorcycles surrounded a police van in buffer zone and opened fire on the patrolling van. At least two policemen were killed in the firing whereas two other were critically injured.
Later on unknown motorcycle riders attacked a traffic police check post and killed two traffic police officers.
On Wednesday evening, gunmen attacked the squad of the rangers wing commander but nobody was harmed. In retaliatory firing, however, two of the attackers were killed who were identified as residents of restive Lyari town and allegedly belonged to the gangs there.
A woman’s body was found from Rashidabad in Baldia Town whereas a man was killed at Karsaz Road near Shahrae Faisal.
Taking notice of the aggravating law and order situation in this financial capital of the country, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told the interior minister to ensure that the ongoing operation in the city must go on.
The prime ministerial instructions came amid growing rifts between the law enforcement agencies and the provincial government of Sindh over transfer and posting in the police department.
Row between paramilitary rangers and the civil administration over the transfer and posting of police officers was feared to dampen down the ongoing operation against the outlaws, the stake holders on Wednesday said.
The contentious situation arose after the tragic death of Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam, the forerunner police officer in operations against terrorists and outlaws, was killed in a suicide bomb attack last week.
Aslam was heading the crime investigation department (CID) of the police and after his death, the media run speculative news regarding the transfer and posting of the police officers. The news irked the paramilitary rangers, which has been a vanguard partner of police in the operation launched in September last.
An emergent meeting was held at the rangers headquarters yesterday that was presided over by the director general of the rangers. A spokesman of the rangers in a statement said that the meeting observed that with the recent transfers in the police department the ongoing operating was feared to suffer with irreparable loss.
