RAWALPINDI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Punjab has been unable to find a clue to the two suspects who were involved in an encounter with Dolphin Force personnel, during which one of the officials was killed and another injured.

The suspects were affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP).

The CTD had been making all out efforts to arrest Younis, a key member of the group, who belonged to Charsadda in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and had disappeared with the car driver, Imtiaz – a TTP sympathiser – after the encounter.

Two suspects, Naseebullah and Ahsanullah were arrested a day after the encounter in Waris Khan police area on April 29.

According to sources, out of the four suspects, Naseebullah, Ahsanullah and Younis were injured during the encounter with the Dolphin Force while the driver, Imtiaz, escaped unhurt.

The sources said Younis alias Qasim who was among the injured managed to escape while his two accomplices, Ahsanullah and Naseebullah, who received treatment at a private Hospital on Peshawar Road for a bullet injury, hid themselves on the roof of a dilapidated house in Waris Khan area where they spent the entire night without food.

The sources said the arrest of the two came about after they descended from the house and were boarding a rickshaw in Bhabra Bazaar the next morning. The two were later handed over to the CTD for further investigation.

Sources close to the investigation revealed that initially the three suspects were affiliated with Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA) but later joined TTP. Ahsanullah had visited Rawalpindi many times.

A few days after the arrests of the two suspects, the CTD claimed that two suspected terrorists were killed during a police encounter in Rawalpindi last week while it was making efforts to arrest the main suspect, Younis, who had played the role of a guide and facilitated treatment of his group members.

The suspected TTP members engaged in an encounter with the Dolphin Force officials while they were returning to Tank after getting Naseebullah treated at a private hospital where he remained for three days.

During their stay, they visited Faisal Mosque and took photographs there which were recovered from their abandoned car. Naseebullah and Ahsanullah were fast friends since they were in the same madressah in Tank. Ahsanullah did not want to leave the injured Naseebullah when they were fleeing.

Besides a doctor who had treated the injured suspect was also detained for investigation. Sources said the doctor had also visited other cities to treat patients.

A senior police officer said strict action would be taken against the private hospital involved in treating members of the banned outfit. He said they had already written to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council for action against the hospital.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2024