RAWALPINDI: Two of the four alleged militants who were said to be involved in a shootout with Dolphin Police in which one policeman was killed and another injured earlier this week have been gunned down by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in an encounter.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the CTD claimed that the suspects allegedly belonged to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and were killed during an exchange of fire between their accomplices and the CTD.

Officials claimed the suspects attacked the CTD and during the shootout, they were killed by the firing of their accomplices who managed to flee from the scene.

They further said that the suspects were wanted in eight cases in Dera Ismail Khan and identified as Naseebullah and Ehsanullah. They were involved in other “anti-state activities”, including an attack on a convoy and were wanted by the police, the CTD claimed.

Police say ‘militants’ involved in attack on Dolphin police shot dead by firing of accomplices

The officials further claimed that they had recovered a large cache of arms and explosives from the militants while the search for their other accomplices, including the group leader, was underway.

Last week, one Dolphin police official was killed and another injured during a pursuit of a vehicle on Murree Road in which the four suspects were travelling. Subsequently, the police managed to arrest two suspects who were handed over to the CTD along with a mobile phone, some photographs, a copy of the arms licence, and the treatment record from a private hospital on Peshawar Road that were recovered from the car of the suspects.

At the time, the police sources said the suspects worked for the TTP but they were neither the foot soldiers nor its commanders. They had said that the car in which they were travelling was hired on rent from Dera Ismail Khan, and the vehicle was also shifted to the CTD office.

The sources said the shootout between the Dolphin Force officials and the suspects took place when they were heading back to Tank after getting treatment from a private hospital on Peshawar Road.

They had come to Rawalpindi for treatment as one of the suspects had been shot in the leg in the Tank city, where he was initially treated before being transferred to a private hospital in the garrison city. The doctor who had treated the leg injury of one of the suspects was also detained for interrogation.

According to the police, the four-men group had been spotted by intelligence and they were returning to Tank after getting the treatment when they were flagged by the Dolphin Force on Murree Road, resulting in a shootout.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2024