KARACHI: An alleged encounter in Gulshan-i-Sikandarabad on Thursday morning left a suspect dead and a Rangers soldier wounded.

“An exchange of fire between Rangers men and drug peddlers took place near Ibrahim Masjid, Street No. 5, Block C-1, Gulshan-i-Sikandarabad,” according to a police statement.

“Lance Naik Akhtiar Husain, 45, posted at Abdullah Shah Ghazi Wing, was wounded in the encounter during which a suspect, Akbar Khan, 50, was killed,” it said, adding that they were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

An officer at the Boat Basin police station said that the paramilitary force conducted a raid on a house in the area to nab drug peddlers when a man came out of an adjacent house and opened straight fire on the Rangers personnel. Lance Naik Akhtiar Husain received one bullet to his abdomen. Another bullet hit his shoulder but did not cause a deep wound as he was wearing a bulletproof vest. His condition, however, was stated to be critical, said the police officer, who wished not to be named.

The deceased suspect’s son, in his statement to the police, admitted that his father had opened fire on the Rangers personnel with his licensed pistol, the police officer said.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Rangers in a statement said that the dead suspect was a drug peddler.

The Rangers team had conducted an operation against drug peddlers in Gulshan-i-Sikandarabad in Sheerin Jinnah Colony, it said, adding that the drug peddlers resorted to firing on the paramilitary force wounding one of the team members. “The Rangers personnel returned the fire and in the ensuing encounter, one drug peddler, Akbar, was killed,” the official added.

A forensic team recovered a 30-bore pistol used by the deceased suspect, two spent bullet casings, 16 live rounds along with one magazine and one round of 9mm pistol, the statement said.

The Boat Basin police have registered a case of terrorism, attempted murder and encounter on the complaint of a Rangers officer.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2022