A Pakistan Air Force Group Captain was shot dead in Islamabad after he tried to stop the alleged abduction of a woman in broad daylight, according to Pakistan’s Samaa TV.
The incident took place at Shaheen Chowk, a busy intersection under the jurisdiction of the Margalla Police Station. The officer, identified as Group Captain Asim Tariq, was driving along Ninth Avenue when he reportedly saw a man on a motorcycle trying to force a woman onto his vehicle.
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Officer intervenes
According to Samaa TV, Tariq stopped to intervene, allowing the woman enough time to escape to the other side of the road.
The suspect, identified as Saad, allegedly abused the Air Force officer before pulling out a gun and opening fire. Tariq sustained fatal bullet injuries and died at the scene, while the accused fled.
Police have launched an investigation and are collecting forensic evidence from the crime scene.
According to the woman’s statement cited by Samaa TV, the accused was her colleague. She alleged that he had offered to drop her at work but instead took a different route in an attempt to abduct her.
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She told police that she resisted, following which the passing Air Force officer stepped in to help.
Following the incident, Pakistan’s Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi sought an immediate report from the Islamabad police chief and directed security agencies to trace and arrest the accused.
Pakistan Air Force crashes
Earlier in June, a Pakistani military training aircraft crashed near Mardan in the country’s northwest, killing both pilots on board. According to a statement issued by the military’s media wing, a Pakistan Air Force trainer aircraft on a routine training sortie went down near Mardan. The aircraft was carrying two pilots, one from the Air Force and the other from the Navy, both of whom were killed in the crash.
The military did not disclose the type of aircraft involved.
A board of inquiry was constituted by Air Headquarters to ascertain the cause of the accident, the statement said. Officials did not rule out technical reasons.
prior to this, a Pakistan Army Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir during take-off, killing all personnel on board. The military had attributed the crash to a suspected technical fault and ordered a detailed inquiry.
That incident, followed closely by Monday’s trainer aircraft crash near Mardan, has resulted in two separate military aviation accidents within a short span, both currently under investigation by authorities.
(With inputs from ANI)
