SWABI: Unknown assailants riding a motorcycle shot dead a police constable when he was returning home from his poultry farm in Parmuli village here on Monday night.

The police and local residents said that constable Ishtiaq Ahmed came home after performing duty at Wapda office in Karnal Sher Khan on Sunday, and later went to his poultry farm in a nearby locality after performing night prayers on Monday. He was on way back home when armed men riding a bike opened indiscriminate fire at him, killing him instantly, they added.

It merits a mention here that Swabi and Mardan police conducted a joint search operation against militants some two weeks ago in the same Parmuli locality. Over 200 suspected persons had been arrested and several of them are still under investigation.

Registering an FIR with the Parmuli police station, Zubair Mohammad, a brother of the deceased constable, said that the policeman was part of the team providing security to officials in Peshawar Electric Supply Company`s sub-division in Karnal Sher Khan.

A police official told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the cop was targeted by militants exactly in the same area where two women polio vaccinators were martyred in January 2020, making it clear that it was the handiwork of militants. Soon after the incident, a search and strike operation was launched against militants in Parmuli and adjacent areas of Razaar circle and the mountain range. The operation was in progress till filing of this report.

The deceased constable left behind a widow, a four-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son to mourn his death.

Funeral prayers of martyred constable were offered at the Police Lines, Shahmansoor.

Swabi district police officer Haroon Rashid Khan, SP investigation Iftikhar Ali Khan, DSP headquarters Noorul Amin Khan, officials of various other departments, youth, relatives and local residents attended the funeral.

Later, the deceased was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard with full official honour.

Meanwhile, a five-day anti-polio campaign began here on Monday amid tight security.

Strict security arrangements have been taken for the drive as patrolling by special police force has been launched, officials said, adding that police commandos had also been deployed at the entry and exit points of the district. The officials said a total 1,396 policemen had been assigned the task to provide security umbrella to vaccinators.

They said SP investigation Iftikhar Ali Khan and DSP headquarters Nurul Amin Khan were supervising the polio teams in different areas.