KARACHI: Four suspects were shot dead in two separate encounters in Clifton and Lyari, officials said on Sunday.

They said that police received information that two men were on their way to collect protection money in Clifton’s Block-1 late on Saturday night.

SP Clifton Ibadat Nisar said that the suspects riding on a motorbike sensed danger as soon as they arrived at the scene and resorted to firing in a bid to escape. However, the police returned fire killing both suspects. A 9mm pistol, a TT pistol and a snatched motorbike were seized from them.

The area SP said that the deceased were wanted in several extortion-related cases. One of them, identified as Rashid, was also booked in a murder case at the Orangi Town Police station, he added.

In another incident, two suspected gangsters were killed in Lyari’s Baghdadi area on late Saturday night.

SSP-City Shiraz Nazeer said that following the killing of suspected gangster Babu Kuchhi, police and Rangers launched a search operation in Khadda Market, where they were attacked by armed men.

In an exchange of gunfire, two men, identified as Daud Memon and Asim Dada, were killed.

He said they were involved in extortion and other crimes. Daud Memon was allegedly a member of the Sajjad Khatri gang, while Dada belonged to the Sheraz Comrade group.

The SSP said different gangs in Lyari had been fighting against one another since their “main gang leaders” had fled and collection of extortion affected badly due to the ‘targeted operation’ in the old city areas.

Meanwhile, acting IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali announced a cash reward of Rs200,000 each for the two police teams that killed the four suspects.

Also in Lyari, two suspects sustained bullet wounds and were arrested following a shoot-out with police near Slaughterhouse.

They were identified as Hunen and Tanveer and were said to be involved in extortion and robberies.

Student recovered, kidnapper killed

A suspected kidnapper was killed in a police raid that resulted in the recovery of a student, who was kidnapped on June 28, in the Northern Bypass area on Sunday.

CPCL chief Ahmed Chinoy said that a joint team of the anti-violent crime cell and the CPLC also arrested another suspected kidnapper, while his two accomplices escaped.

He added that Haseebullah, 18, a student of a local college was kidnapped on June 28 while he was coming home from a mosque after Isha prayers.

The Mauripur police registered a kidnapping case and the investigations were given to the CPLC-AVCC team. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs20 million for his safe release.

However, the law-enforcers conducted a targeted raid on a hideout in Gulshan-i-Mazdoor along Northern Bypass on Sunday morning. On seeing the policemen, the suspects opened fire and the police retaliated. An encounter continued for two hours and resulted in the killing of a suspect, whose identity was yet to be known.

Another suspect, identified as Miran Malik, was arrested, he added.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2014