Daily Times

An unidentified gunman riding a motorbike martyred a constable in Lahore, the third police officer targeted during the last 10 days in the provincial capital on Thursday.

The shooter ambushed Constable Ghulam Rasool at Taxali Gate inside Walled City late Wednesday night and fled. According to police, it seemed that the killer was hired by some criminal gang for target-killing of the constable. The deceased constable was murdered on the typical pattern of recent attacks on policemen in Lahore. During the shooting, a passerby named Akbar also received bullet injuries. However, Taxali Gate police station have registered a case of murder on the complaint of deceased constable’s son Mustansar under the legal sections of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and murder.

The text of the FIR revealed that the murder of the constable was a target killing. Meanwhile, counter-terrorism department (CTD) and police personnel carried out a combing operation at Karol Ghati after receiving information about presence of the shooter there. The security personnel searched tents and slums. The action was taken on the basis of a geo-fencing report about the presence of the shooter. Three police officers including a sub-inspector were target-killed during the last 10 days in Lahore.

The police have pointed their finger at a banned extremist group, saying only one shooter was involved in all the incidents. According to police, Sub-Inspector Arshad was shot dead in Misri Shah on Sunday night while Constable Muhammad Ali was martyred in Baghbanpura on Friday night.