Police shot and killed a vendor they suspected of being a militant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district on Thursday, police confirmed.
The man, identified as Wolas Khan, had been selling clothes on his bicycle in the area for the past 15 years. He is survived by 12 children.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Shah Mumtaz Khan said, “The man had failed to stop at a checkpoint outside a courthouse in Mardan.”
He said, “The police first rammed a vehicle into the bicycle when the vendor didn’t listen to warning shouts, then shot him as he tried to run away.”
“The man, around 45 years old, was injured by the firing and later died in a local hospital. No explosives or weapons were found on the deceased,” the DSP said.
District Police Officer (DPO) Mian Saeed said, “The incident happened in a sensitive area where police had installed barriers.”
He said, “The road on which the man was shot had been designated a one-way street.”
Pakistani police have been on high alert after a recent string of militant attacks that have killed more than 125 people, the latest of them inside a court building in KP’s Charsadda.
