ISLAMABAD: The capital police on Thursday claimed to have killed an alleged gangster and arrested his accomplice after an encounter.

A spokesman for the police said that a police team wearing bulletproof jackets was on patrol at Service Road in G-13/2 where a Honda Civic appeared at around 3:20am.

On suspicion, the police signaled it to stop but the persons sitting in the rear seat opened firing at the police and the car sped towards G-14. The police chased the vehicle and the car stopped at the edge of G-14 Service Road due to the rough road at around 3:25am.

Seeing the police approaching them, the suspects opened fire at the police and three persons disembarked from the vehicle and ran away. The persons in the car again started firing at the police when the officials reached close to the vehicle but they remained unhurt.

During the cross-firing, two persons, one sitting in the car and the other who had disembarked along with two others, sustained bullet injuries, the spokesman said. The injured were taken into custody, while two others managed to escape. Later, one of the injured died in hospital during the treatment. He was involved in a series of crimes ranging from terrorism to car lifting,

The police also recovered three 30-bore pistols from the injured, he said.

During search of the car, two jammers, two engine control devices, a hammer and two pipe range were recovered which were used to steal vehicles. A case has been registered in the Golra police station against the four suspects on a complaint lodged by SI Mohammad Iqbal Gujar at 5:20am.

It was a robbers’ gang involved in attacks on police, street crimes, house robberies and auto-thefts.

A press release issued by the police said IGP Mohammad Ahsan Younas appreciated the efforts of the police for hunting down a notorious robber and hand cuffing his close accomplice.

“The swift action by Golra police that left one robber dead has broken the backbone of the gang,” Mr Younas said, adding that the police were carrying raids to arrest the fleeing robbers.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2022