November 22, 2008	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 23, 1429

KARACHI, Nov 21: Three policemen were wounded in a shootout with armed suspects in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Friday.

The suspects managed to escape under the cover of fire after snatching another car. The encounter occurred on a service lane along the main artery connecting Jauhar Chowrangi to University Road.

SP Gulshan Sohail Zafar Chattha said that SHO of Jauhar police station Inspector Barrak along with the two other policemen were patrolling the area when they spotted a suspicious silver Baleno car bearing a fake registration number (ACH-119) slowly moving on the service lane near the KESC office.

“Had the policemen been carrying ample quantity of arms and ammunition along with them the four suspects could have been easily taken down,” the SP observed.

Two of the suspects deceived the police by coming out of the car posing as if they had surrendered, but their accomplices who were sitting on the rear seat opened fire at the policemen. They used AK-47 rifle, the police said.

The policemen ran for cover and returned the fire. The car’s windscreen was perforated with bullet shots, the rear glass was completely smashed and the front right tyre deflated. However, the police ran out of ammunition as they were carrying only one rifle (AK-47) with the only magazine.

Taking advantage, the suspects jumped out on the main road, snatched another car at gunpoint and escaped.

The three injured policemen, Inspector Barrakullah, ASI Ashiq and head constable Zulfiqar, were rushed to the nearby Darul Sehat hospital for medical treatment after the incident. Doctors said that the policemen were out of danger.

The police seized the car and found two TT pistols and about half of a dozen registration plates from its trunk.

The car’s original registration number was AEN-359, the police said, adding that it was snatched in the Aziz Bhatti police jurisdiction on October 23. An FIR (557/2008) of the car theft was registered at the police station, they said.

A visit to the crime scene showed Inspector Barrak’s Honda Civic car (AEW-004) and Silver Baleno (ACH-119) parked face-to-face on the service road. The snatched car’s windscreen was damaged. The rear glass was completely smashed and the front right tyre also deflated. Inspector Barrak’s car also suffered some bullet shots, but it was not as badly damaged as the snatched car.

SP Clifton Azad Khan told Dawn that the same car was used by armed robbers earlier in the day. They snatched cash from a person at the intersection of the Khayaban-i-Bharia and Ittehad in Defence.

Shah Noor had drawn over Rs400,000 from Bank Al Habib branch located at Shahbaz Commercial. As soon as he reached near the Ittehad he was intercepted by the occupants of the Silver Baleno. They deprived him of the cash at gunpoint and drove away, SP Azad Khan said.

Investigations of the case were under way, the police said.

In another encounter on Friday night, a police constable was wounded near the Malir Courts in the limits of Al Falah police station.

A police party observing some suspicious movement near the courts asked suspects to surrender. The armed men instead opened fire at the police, injuring constable Nazeer. The police returned the fire but without success as the suspects fled under the cover of fire.

SP Shah Faisal Qayum Patafi told Dawn that the police constable who suffered a slight injury was taken to hospital for treatment.

Body found

An unidentified young man was found murdered in Lyari in early hours of Friday.

Police said a bullet-riddled body was found on a Slaughter Yard road within the limits of Baghdadi police station. Area people informed the police about the presence of the body. The police took the body to the Civil Hospital Karachi for a post-mortem examination.

Following the legal formalities, the body was shifted to the Edhi morgue for identification.

Five die in accidents

Five persons were killed in road accidents in different parts of the city on Friday.

Police said that two persons were killed when a speeding car ran over 17-year-old Abrar and 35-year-old Rafiq, who were crossing the main road near the junk market in Shershah.

Police said that both the injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital. However, they succumbed to their injuries shortly after.

A speeding bus knocked down a young man near Hasan Square.

The victim was identified as Suleman. The 25-year-old resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal was employed at a medical store. Police said that the victim died on the spot. The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal formalities.

In Korangi Industrial Area, a woman and apparently her daughter were killed in an accident.

According to the initial information the police gathered, the woman and her daughter were crossing a Korangi Industrial Area road when an unidentified vehicle hit them and sped away.

The identities of the two victims could not be known immediately.

Injured

A brother and sister were injured in a road accident in North Karachi, the area police said.

The police said that Saleem Khan, 35, and his sister, Shista Khan, were riding a motorcycle when a speeding vehicle knocked them down near Andha Mor. The injured were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medical treatment.

Vehicle theft

Forty three vehicles – 30 motorcycles and 13 cars – were taken away from different parts of the city on Friday.

Sources in the police department said that 11 motorcycles were snatched at gunpoint by armed robbers. Nineteen other motorcycles were stolen from different parts of the city.

Similarly, they said, five cars were snatched at gunpoint and eight were reported stolen from different localities.