KARACHI: A police constable was found shot dead in his Mehmoodabad residence on Tuesday. Police said that Zahid Bhatti, 28, was posted at the Boat Basin police station.

Mehmoodabad SHO Falak Sher said that the deceased was living with his brother, who told the police that he committed `suicide` by shooting himself in the head with his pistol.

But DIG East Amir Faroogi said: `He most likely [was j killed by his brother.

`There are signs of a scuffle in the room, different things got broken and the most obvious sign was the entry wound which is in the upper part of [the] head and the bullet exite d through neck. This is highly unlikely or impossible in any accidentalfire,` the DIG added.

The SHO said that the brother was taken into custodyforinterrogation.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medicolegal formalities.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Amjad Saleemi took notice of the incident and directed the DIG East to submit a detailed report.

Constable wounded in shootout A police constable sustained critical bullet wound during an encounter with criminals in North Nazimabad on Tuesday, police said.

The Shahrah-i-Noor Jehan police said that two policemen were patrolling the area on a motorbike in plain clothes when they sig-nalled four suspects on two motorbikes to stop near the Sakhi Hasan graveyard at around 4pm.

However, the suspects resorted to firing and Constable Mashkoor Alam suffered bullet injuries in the head, said SSP Central Irfan Baloch.

He was initially taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital from where he was taken to a private hospital for further treatment.

The suspects managed to escape from the crime scene.

`The policemen were patrolling in the locality in plain clothes`, DIG West Azad Khan said.

The DIG added that police were deployed in the area in plain clothes to spot and arrest muggers since the number of street crimes hadincreasedin the locality.