KARACHI: Five suspected militants were killed in a shootout with police in a deserted area off the Superhighway, while four others were arrested by the law enforcers after an exchange of fire with them in Defence on Wednesday, officials said.

The suspects belonging to some banned militant groups were planning a “major terror activity in the city”, the officials said, adding that the police seized explosive material and a huge cache of arms and ammunition from their possession.

SSP Rao Anwar — the officer known for deadly encounters with suspected militants — said he along with his team raided a hideout near Indus Plaza, off the Superhighway, while acting on a tip-off about the presence of some militants in the area.

“We had credible information about their presence and then we came to know that the militants had a hideout in one of the graveyards,” he told the media at the encounter site after the shootout. “Nearly half a dozen armed men in the hideout attacked our personnel when they were busy taking positions. The exchange of fire left all the five militants dead.”

The officer said two of them were later identified as Naeem and Hafeezullah. Efforts were under way to determine the identity of the other militants. “We have also found 2.5 kilograms of explosive material and a huge cache of arms and ammunition in the hideout,” the officer said.

“They all belonged to a banned organisation and had gathered here to plan a terror activity in the city,” added SSP Anwar. Earlier, the police claimed to have arrested four suspects associated with banned militant organisations after an exchange of fire with them in the area of the Defence Housing Authority.

DIG-South Dr Jamil Ahmed said the encounter took place in the DHA area which led to the arrest of Ashraf, Rehmat Shah, Hanif alias Nadeem Kala and Zahid. “All the four suspects are members of the banned outfit,” he said.

“The police also seized around four kilograms of explosive substance with a detonator and ball bearings and four TT pistols from their possession.

“During an initial investigation, it has emerged that they were involved in a grenade attack on a Lea Market gambling den that had left 16 people dead. They were also involved in a bomb attack on a wine shop in Lea Market and Nargis Cinema. Police have also traced said some murder cases against them which they had carried out on sectarian grounds.”

With a terror threat looming over the metropolis, the city police appeared to have been aggressive in chasing suspects and engaging them in ‘encounters’ which mostly resulted in the killing of militants, street criminals and gangsters.

Last year police and the Rangers killed 696 suspects in separate encounters in the city, while 95 law enforcers fell in the line of duty, according to the official data released last week.

The police said a total of 1,577 encounters took place last year and 544 suspected militants, gangsters and criminals were killed. The number of policemen who lost their lives in armed attacks so far is 83, while 89 were wounded in the outgoing year. The trend seemed to have continued in 2016 as within the first week of the current year, the law-enforcement agencies have killed over one dozen suspects in encounters in different parts of the city.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2016