KARACHI: The Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, on Friday claimed to have gunned down four suspected members of a criminal gang in an encounter in Kalakot, the area where another suspected gangster was killed in an ‘encounter’ with police on Thursday night.

Rangers soldiers conducted an ‘intelligence-driven targeted operation’ in Gul Mohammed Lane against elements involved in the Lyari gang warfarwe, said a Rangers spokesperson.

The raid was conducted at 5.10am in the seventh street of Gul Mohammed Lane in which four ‘wanted criminals’ of the Baba Ladla (Noor Mohammed) group were killed amid a ‘fierce exchange of fire’ with Rangers troops, said the official.

The suspects allegedly opened ‘indiscriminate firing’ on the soldiers and tried to escape by firing at the pursuing law enforcers.

Bodies of two suspects were identified as Daniyal, alias Burger, and Murtaza whereas two others were yet to be identified, said the official. However, Kalakot SHO Safdar Mashwani identified the two other bodies as those of Junaid and Abid.

They were “wanted in a number of incidents of targeted killings, kidnapping and other crimes,” said the Rangers official who also claimed to have seized weapons from their possession.

The bodies were shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi for post-mortem examination where a hospital official said the suspects were hit in their heads and chests.

The official said the police did not mention names of the killed men in their papers submitted at the medico-legal section of the hospital.

On Thursday night, police killed in an ‘encounter’ Fayyaz, alias Punjabi, a ‘commander’ of the Uzair Baloch group.

Couple found dead in freezer

The stabbed bodies of a couple were found in a freezer in a home in Al-Falah area of Malir on Friday night, police said.

They added that the bodies of 45-year-old Syed Badar-ul-Hasa and his 35-year-old wife, Razia Begum, were found in their home in Bagh-i-Malir.

They had been stabbed to death and their bodies were kept in a freezer, said Al-Falah SHO Jan Mohammed.

He added an initial investigation suggested that the murder might be an outcome of personal enmity.

‘Robber’ killed in encounter

An alleged robber was shot dead in an ‘encounter’ in North Nazimabad on Friday evening, the Tamuria police said.

Two suspects allegedly tried to snatch mobile phones from two men near Haroon Shopping Centre. One of them put up resistance and in the meantime, two policemen patrolling on a motorbike reached there, said Gulberg SP Chaudhry Asad Ali.

The suspects opened fire on the police, who returned fire, resultantly one bullet hit on the chest of a suspect identified as Abdul Moid Khan while the other suspect who was shot at on his right leg managed to escape on the motorcycle, added the officer.

The wounded suspect was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2014