MANSEHRA: An Afghan national, accused of murdering a minor boy, was killed on Thursday as his men launched a gun attack on police in the Ichrian area to free him.
“As the police took the accused, Najeebullah, to the crime scene for evidence collection, his associates indiscriminately fired at them. However, the bullets hit the accused, killing him immediately,” district police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told reporters here.
The police handed over the body to the family for burial after doctors of a local health centre completed medico-legal formalities.
Najeebullah, who lived in the Ichrian refugee camp, was arrested by a special investigation team led by SP Roshan Jehangir and SP (Investigation) Sheraz Khan. He confessed to killing eight-year-old Sufiyan, who had come to Ichrian from Karachi with his mother to meet his grandparents.
The DPO said the armed men, totalling two to three, launched the attack from a nearby slum dwelling.
“Bullets hit life jackets worn by two police officers but they remained unhurt,” he said.
Mr Gandapur said the police recovered the body’s headless body, clothes and shoes.
He said enmity over a pathway dispute led to the murder.
In the FIR, the boy’s mother insisted that she reached Ichrian from Karachi around three months ago to meet her parents.
“On July 21, the accused came to our house and asked my son to help him search for his missing dog. The next day, her son’s headless body was found,” she said.
Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2025
