TOBA TEK SINGH: Two arrested robbers were killed in an encounter with the Thikriwala police in Faisalabad on Monday.

A police spokesperson said Abdul Majeed and Shamshad Ahmad, both of Chak 204-RB, were on physical remand. They were being brought back to the police station after a weapons recovery operation when, near Mullanpur Chowk on Jhang Road, six unidentified accomplices attacked the police van to free them.

An exchange of gunfire ensued, and when the firing ceased, police found both Majeed and Shamshad injured, while the attackers fled.

The injured persons were shifted to the Allied Hospital, where they later succumbed to their injuries.

Sources stated that the two were involved in multiple robberies and had also killed Thikriwala constable Abid Ali in a previous encounter.

KILLED: A trader was killed by two robbers on Dhanola Road in the Millat Town police station area on Sunday night.

Reports said Muhammad Ashfaq, a shopkeeper near Clock Tower Chowk, was on his way home to Chak 115 JB on his motorcycle from Faisalabad when two gunmen, also on a motorcycle, intercepted him near Makhan Wala Canal Bridge. When he resisted, they opened fire, leaving him injured. He was rushed to the Allied Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

RECOVERED: A newborn baby allegedly kidnapped from Chak 453 JB in the Mochiwala police area of Jhang on Aug 30 was recovered on Monday.

The police arrested seven suspects. According to a Jhang police spokesperson, the child’s mother, Asma Bibi, was staying at her parents’ house due to her father’s death when her son suddenly disappeared.

Investigation SP Javed Iqbal Chadhar told reporters that Rani Bibi, a relative of Asma, also vanished from the house. Upon arresting her and two accomplices, Shahnaz Bibi and Nasira Bibi, they confessed to abducting the child with Kalshoom Bibi, Naziran Bibi, Nazar Abbas and Ali Hassan.

The child had been sold to Habib Khanuana for Rs200,000.

CASE: The hearing of four cases registered against 57 PTI activists for their involvement in attacks on the house of former federal interior minister Rana Sanaullah Khan and the ISI building in Faisalabad on May 9, 2023, was scheduled for Monday before the Faisalabad Anti-Terrorism Court. However, due to the transfer of presiding judge Raja Shahid Zameer, the hearing was adjourned until Sept 14.

Former judge Raja Shahid Zameer had previously issued an advertisement requiring all 57 PTI activists to appear before the court, warning that failure to do so would result in them being declared proclaimed offenders.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2024