Islamabad DIG terms Tuesday's attack on two police officials act of terrorism.

Byline: Munawer Azeem

ISLAMABAD -- The killing of two policemen in the rural area of the capital on Tuesday night is being considered an act of terrorism, not a confrontation with criminals, said a police officer.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Mohammad Mohsin Zafar and Head Constable Sajid Ahmed were gunned down at Chungi No 26 at Tarnol. They were among a three-member police team performing duty at a halting point to check suspected vehicles and people.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Operations Waqaruddin Syed told Dawn that after an initial inquiry he was convinced that it was terrorism not a crime as thought initially.

About a massage went viral on social media claiming that a banned outfit was behind the attack, the DIG said: 'This is unverified as this is only on social media.'

The officials were from the Tarnol police station and two of them embraced martyrdom, not four as mentioned in the message, he added.

Incident is not related to any confrontation with criminals, says police officer

The circumstances showed that the incident was so sudden that the ASI who was armed with a pistol and the head constable carrying an SMG did not have time to retaliate, he said, adding the pistol of the ASI was found in his holster attached with waist while the head constable was found at a greenbelt. It seems he was shot before he could retaliate.

Two teams have been constituted to probe the incident under the supervision of the DIG. Each team is headed by Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigation Dr Syed Mustafa Tanveer and SP Saddar Sarfaraz Virk.

SP Tanveer's team will investigate the case on technical grounds and collect evidence. The team will get assistance from Safe City Project and CCTVs installed in nearby buildings and roads.

The team will also conduct geo-fencing of the area to pick up suspects for an investigation.

The team headed by SP Virk will collect evidence from human intelligence and will examine the crime spot, nearby areas and roads leading to it.

Besides, they will also check the nearby and adjacent localities to trace the culprits. People in surrounding areas will also be approached to know if anyone had seen the suspects.

Special Branch has also been asked to mount intelligence in slums to collect details of people who had started living there in the recent past.

'So far, there is no eyewitness to the incident. Some people found the body of the ASI lying on the road and informed the police,' said one officer, adding...