0
LAHORE, June 23: Police on Thursday killed six robbers in an “encounter” after they had allegedly shot dead a sub-inspector late on Wednesday night in Kahna. The alleged robbers had reportedly set up a picket where they intercepted 20 motorists. They were busy in looting their victims when SI Dilawar Ashraf, together with constable Muhammad Salim spotted them during a routine patrol.
On seeing the police, Lahore Operations chief SSP Amir Zulfikar said, the gangsters opened fire, causing critical injuries to both the officials.
Dilawar, 30, died before getting any first aid while the constable was admitted to the General hospital in a critical condition.
A large police contingent surrounded three villages in the area. Aided by sniffer dogs, police launched a massive search and spotted the robbers in the morning, the SSP said.
He claimed that the miscreants again opened fire on the police which was returned. “The crossfire which continued for around half an hour ended in the killing of all the robbers,” the police chief said and added that the policeman remained unhurt.
Official weapons, which had been snatched from the sub-inspector, besides valuables were seized from the hideout. The SSP said the motorists, who had been robbed of, and several other villagers had identified the robbers.
However, the police sources said the dacoits were arrested from one of the three villages during the hunt. They added the gangsters were killed in a ‘staged’ shootout.
The bodies of the robbers remained in the Kahna police station for hours before they were moved to the city mortuary for autopsy.
Aged between 25-40, they were identified as Allah Ditta, Asif Ali, Manzoor Ahmad, Muhammad Riaz, Imran Ali and Mohabbat Ali.
The body of the police official was taken to the district police lines where senior officers, including Punjab IGP Ziaul Hasan, offered his funeral prayers.
The SSP announced a Rs1 million compensation for the family of the deceased official and said the police would continue fighting criminals.
CUSTODIAL DEATH: A man picked by the police on suspicion of involvement in a car-theft case died in custody in mysterious circumstances on late Wednesday night. Baghbanpura police investigation in-charge Ghulam Abid and his six men raided a house in Sheikhupura and picked up Nazir Pathan, 55.
The police party bundled the suspect into a vehicle and was driving him to Lahore when he complained of pain in his chest and died.
The police sources said the elderly man was manhandled and thrashed by the police, which caused his death. However, Lahore investigation chief SSP Shafqaat Ahmad claimed that the man died of cardiac arrest.
However, city police chief DIG Tariq Saleem ordered registration of a criminal case against the officials and other departmental action if proved guilty in investigation. A case was registered against them, but neither any of them joined investigation nor had been taken into custody.
One killed: One person was killed and eight others injured when two rival groups exchanged fire in Burki on Thursday.
Ayub and Nazir groups over an old enmity bandied shots. Riaz, 33, was killed and eight others, including three women, from both the parties sustained injuries. The injured were taken to a hospital.
