Cop martyred in Peshawar encounter

PESHAWAR: A police constable was martyred and a proclaimed offender was killed during an encounter in the limits of the Urmar Police Station on Tuesday.

A police party was conducting a raid after reports about the presence of a proclaimed offender Irfan in Urmar Mayana when he opened fire on the police party. One police constable Samiullah was martyred in the firing.

The proclaimed offender was also killed during the exchange of fire. He was wanted for injuring his brother. A number of villagers blocked the road after the incident to protest the killing of Irfan in the encounter. The funeral prayer of the martyred cop was offered at the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines.

Ad IGP Usman Anwar, city police chief Abbas Ahsan and others attended it. Reports said the deceased cop was an ex-serviceman and was not paid salary for the last four months. The family complained that the post-mortem of the body was carried out timely but the police officials delayed the official funeral prayer, which further bothered the family.

“The family had announced the funeral of the martyred cop in their village in Katlang at 4pm and hundreds of family members were waiting for the body. The cops delayed the funeral that angered the relatives and villagers who were waiting for the coffin for long,” a family member said.

He added the deceased cop and many like him were going through the worst time after they were not being paid salary despite the fact they were performing duties in the remote and troubled towns.