Police | Pakistan

LAHORE: Police on Saturday submitted a report in the Lahore High Court (LHC) detailing the security plan for the upcoming three-day Basant festival. Basant will be celebrated in Lahore from February 6-8, following the passage of the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Bill, 2025, that ended a suspension of the festival after almost two decades. The report identified areas of concern for the 2026 festival, based on data from the last decade, and urged full implementation of the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Bill, 2025. It stated that registration of every kite and spool of string is mandatory through a QR code and there would be zero tolerance for glass, chemical-coated, or metallic wire. According to the report, Lahore has been divided into red, yellow, and green zones, while officials will continuously monitor kite-flying activities through drones, social media, and control rooms. It also warned that strict action will be taken against aerial firing, drinking, and illegal activities on rooftops. The report s...

KARACHI - Police detained more than 30 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers on Sunday after clashes erupted near Numaish Chowrangi and Bagh-e-Jinnah ahead of the party’s scheduled public gathering, prompting warnings of strict action by the Sindh government over violations of the rally’s terms.

KARACHI: Police arrested the prime suspect, a serving cop, who allegedly shot his wife for ‘honour’ in Karachi’s Shadman Town a day earlier, said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Central Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman was shot and injured by her husband in their home on Friday. The initial probe revealed that the incident occurred over a “domestic dispute”. “The suspect had fled the scene after the incident,” the police official stated. In the statement issued today, the police confirmed that the suspect is in custody and the murder weapon was recovered from his possession. The statement added that the suspect was arrested during a raid conducted on Friday night. “Further interrogation of the suspect is underway, and all the proceedings will be done as per the law,” said SSP Siddiqui. The suspect is a serving police inspector, posted with the Special Investigation Unit (SIU). A day earlier, the SSP revealed that it was the suspect’s second marriage to the victim. “The suspect h...

KARACHI: A woman was allegedly shot dead by her husband, a serving police official, over ‘honour’ in Karachi’s Shadman Town on Friday, according to police. A police spokesperson said in a statement that the 40-year-old woman was shot and injured by her husband in their home. During the initial probe, it transpired that the incident occurred over a “domestic dispute”. “After receiving information [about the incident], the police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured woman to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where she expired,” Senior Superintendent of Police (Central) Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi said. Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that the body bore “two gunshot injuries to [the] torso, through and through”. The SSP, meanwhile, added that the suspect — who fled the scene — is a serving police inspector posted with the Special Investigation Unit (SIU). SSP Siddiqi said it was the victim’s second marriage. “The suspect had doubts that his wife was still in ‘contact’ with her former husband,” he said. “CCTV f...

KARACHI: Docks police on Saturday evening registered a first information report (FIR) against unidentified suspects for brutally killing four persons whose bodies were recovered from a pit in a bushy area near Mai Kolachi Road on Friday night. The case was registered on behalf of the state by police officer Mohammed Azhar under Sections 34 (common intention) and 302 (murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code According to the contents of the FIR, the complainant said the bodies of two males and two females were recovered from a dried manhole. Their post-mortem examinations were conducted at Civil Hospital Karachi. Police shared pictures of the victims on different social media groups for identification. “Circumstances give rise to suspicions that the victims were killed somewhere and later on their bodies were thrown in the dried manhole,” the FIR stated. Speaking to Dawn earlier today, Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that the bodies bore multiple marks of torture. She added that victims’ ages were betwe...

LAKKI MARWAT: District police said on Saturday that a wanted terrorist commander was killed during an ongoing operation in the Lakki Marwat district’s Takhtikhel area. On Friday, six terrorists were reportedly killed and several others injured in an intense exchange of fire with police backed by Counter-Terrorism Department commandos, armed villagers and members of peace committees. In a statement released on Saturday, district police said that a major success had been achieved in the ongoing joint operation with the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) against Fitna al Khawarij. Fitna al Khawarij is a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. Police said terrorist commander Nusratullah, alias Nusrat Wazir, was killed during the operation conducted in Takhtikhel. Police said the terrorist was wanted by the Bannu CTD in relation to 28 cases registered on terrorism charges. “Nasratullah was among the most wanted on the terrorism list in the region,” police said, adding that the governmen...

Police in Rhode Island were searching for a suspect late on Saturday after a shooting at Brown University in Providence left two students dead and eight others critically wounded at the Ivy League school, officials said. A ninth person was hurt by bullet fragments, the mayor said. Streets around campus remained blocked and packed with emergency vehicles hours after the shooting and law enforcement officials heightened security around the city as police continued their manhunt. “The individual responsible is still at large,” Mayor Brett Smiley told reporters at a 9:30pm (7:30am PKT) press conference. Deputy Police Chief Timothy O’Hara said the suspect had not been identified. Officials said they are looking for a male dressed in black and were releasing a video of the suspect, who O’Hara said may have been wearing a mask. He said officials had retrieved shell casings from the scene of the shooting, but that police were not prepared to release details. Officials said the gunman escaped after shooting students i...

Police, procurement, judiciary rank highest in corruption perceptions

Police stopped the sisters of the PTI founder at the Factory Checkpost on Tuesday as they attempted to visit him, prompting Aleema Khan to lead a sit-in alongside party workers.

Police on Monday recovered the body of a doctor who had been missing since Thursday in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Abbottabad from a nearby forest. Police sources told Dawn that the body of Dr Warda Mushtaq was recovered from the nearby forests of Thandiyani. Her body has now been shifted to the hospital for an autopsy. Police also arrested a friend of the deceased and her husband in relation to the case. Mushtaq — a doctor at the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed hospital — had been missing since Thursday, prompting her colleagues and the leaders of the Provincial Doctors Association and Grand Health Alliance to stage a demonstration and boycott hospital duties. They had announced that if she was not found by Monday, protests would be extended to hospitals across the province. Following the news of the death, the hospital staff staged a protest and blocked the main Karakoram Highway (KKH) road from Fawara Chowk, assailing the police for “delayed action.” FIR As per the first information report (FIR), filed by her father under...

Police on Thursday blocked routes leading to the Karachi Press Club ahead of a press conference by Aurat March over the alleged “abduction” of two Baloch girls and briefly detained an activist, with organisers claiming that other members were also manhandled. Aurat March, a women’s rights group, was set to hold a press conference at 3pm over the alleged “abduction” of two Baloch girls — 15-year-old Nasreen Baloch and 24-year-old Mahjabeen Baloch. Authorities closed off roads leading to KPC ahead of the press conference, which eventually began with a delay of approximately 20 minutes as the organisers said they were “stopped by the police” at the gate of the press club. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) member Qazi Khizar said an activist named Sara was taken by the police from outside the KPC. Within a few hours, Aurat March confirmed to Dawn that she had been released. Dawn has reached out to the police for a comment on the detention. Senior journalist Dodal Chandio said in a post on Facebook that “...

The Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Thursday claimed to have arrested two suspects — linked to the outlawed Zainebiyoun Brigade — in connection with the killing of an Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) worker, as well as another sectarian killing in Karachi. The militant group Zainebiyoun Brigade was added to the list of proscribed organisations in June of last year. It has also been designated by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation since 2019. ASWJ, also an outlawed group, has seen a spate of attacks in recent times in Karachi. On October 20, an ASWJ worker was shot dead in the city’s Nangan Chowrangi area. Earlier this month, another worker was killed in a suspected targeted attack on main University Road. Speaking at a press conference today, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) CTD Azfar Mahesar said that the “counter-terror force of police and a federal intelligence agency jointly carried out an intelligence-based operation (IBO) and arrested two suspects linked with the Zaineb...

Law enforcers foiled an attack by terrorists at a police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Sunday, police said. Police said in a statement that terrorists belonging to Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — tried to attack the Baka Khel police station from a distance. However, it added, police personnel opened fire on them after detecting their movement using the “latest technology”. As a result, the statement said, the terrorists couldn’t come near the police station and fled. According to police, “residents from nearby areas also fired at the attackers” and helped law enforcers. The statement did not mention any loss of lives or property in the incident, which was earlier confirmed by Bannu Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sajjad Khan. He told Dawn.com that the attackers had used a hand grenade to target the police station. “Unidentified attackers threw a hand grenade toward the police station, but it fell at a distance, causing no damage,” h...

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police have set up a specialised Sniper Squad to bolster counterterrorism operations in high-risk regions across the province.

The Ministry of Interior has handed over a fleet of bulletproof vehicles to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police to bolster their security capabilities in high-risk zones.

Police on Wednesday launched an operation to demolish hundreds of houses vacated by Afghans in Karachi’s Afghan Camp in the Sohrab Goth area to prevent “illegal occupation by rogue elements,” officials said. The land belongs to the Malir Development Authority (MDA). It comprises 3,117 houses, including those of 200 to 250 Pakistani families. Around 15,680 Afghan nationals were previously residing in the camp. Of them, 14,296 have returned to Afghanistan, while the remaining 1,384 are still living there and are being repatriated in phases. West Zone Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Irfan Ali Baloch told Dawn.com, “The government-owned land was spread over 200 acres, with 3,000 houses built to accommodate Afghans.” DIG Baloch further said he had written a letter to police authorities to set up a special committee comprising representatives of the city administration, police and other relevant institutions to prevent illegal occupation of the vacated government land. “It was the biggest camp of displaced Afghans w...

The Gilgit-Baltistan Police on Monday said they had arrested eight facilitators of an attack the previous day on a religious leader from the proscribed Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) near the Central Police Office (CPO). Maulana Qazi Nisar Ahmed, who is the emir of the group’s GB and Kohistan chapter, was travelling along with police guards and a driver when the convoy came under fire. Police officials said the guards retaliated immediately, injuring some of the attackers, who managed to escape with the help of accomplices. The same day, a judge of the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court had also survived a brazen gun attack. Following the incidents, protests erupted across the region. Demonstrators blocked main roads, including the Karakoram Highway, Gilgit–Shandur Road, and Baltistan Road, demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits. Shops and markets in Gilgit remained closed in protest. Addressing a press conference to provide further updates, Inspector General of Police (IG) Gilgit-Baltistan Afzal Mahmood Bu...

MANSEHRA: Police on Thursday rescued a German tourist, who went missing after being separated from her group during a hiking trip in Kaghan Valley. “The woman had lost her way after being separated from her seven-member group. After several hours of hectic efforts, our personnel rescued her and shifted her back to her hotel,” DPO Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told journalists. The tourist, identified as 66-year-old Karun Anne Malarik, was hiking on the Chapra track near Naran along with six other Germans when she lost contact with the group after nightfall in the thick forest. “We mobilised two teams immediately after receiving information from our high-ups. After an intensive search in the mountainous terrain, she was safely rescued and reunited with her group,” said Mr Gandapur. He added that the group of German tourists, comprising four women and three men, had entered Kaghan Valley via Babusar Top after spending several days in Gilgit-Baltistan. They were later heading to Islamabad following the incident and w...

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police on Tuesday successfully recovered three men abducted in Nowshera. Nowshera Police spokesperson Turk Ali Shah earlier told Dawn.com that the “Counter-Terrorism Department has been given the task to make efforts and get the abducted people released.” A first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered at the CTD Mardan Circle Police Station a day ago on the complaint of the engineer’s father under Pakistan Penal Code Section 365A (kidnapping or abducting for extorting property) and Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti Terrorism Act. A statement issued today from the KP Police said officials of the Nizampur Police Station were alerted about the incident. It added that Nowshera District Police Officer Ahmad Shah assigned the task to Nizampur Station House Officer Altaf Hussain and Sub-Inspector Waqas Yousuf Wittim to safely rescue the abducted men. “The team rescued the three kidnapped people safely with the cooperation and efforts of local elders,” th...

A clash broke out between police and protesters in the early hours of Thursday, leaving several injured, protest organisers claimed, as traders continued to block routes in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Sost Valley. Last month, Pak-China Tajeer Etihad Action Committee launched a protest against the suspension of border trade via the Khunjerab Pass, blaming the federal government’s inaction over unresolved tax-related issues, which have inflicted heavy losses on importers and exporters over the year. One of the organisers, Muhammad Ismail, claimed that the police had launched a crackdown against peaceful protesters, stating: “Police resorted to tear gas and aerial firing to disperse protesters from the venue.” Speaking to reporters, Hunza Superintendent of Police Nabeel Ahmed said that there was no plan to launch a crackdown on the sit-in. “Police were deployed only to arrest a suspect who is allegedly extorting traders at the customs and immigration area upon their return from China,” he said. “The sit-in organisers had...