LAHORE: A suspected serial killer, accused of kidnapping and murdering at least four people, was reportedly killed by gunfire from his own accomplices during an alleged encounter with the Gujranwala police on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Gujranwala police said that the suspect, who was caught while attempting to flee from Lahore to Karachi via train, had been in the custody of the Gujranwala police on physical remand.

He claimed that the police team was taking the suspect to an area he had identified to recover the murder weapon, when unidentified armed accomplices of the suspect intercepted the police party.

The police spokesperson further claimed that four armed accomplices opened fire on the police in an attempt to free the suspect from custody. “However, the suspect was killed by gunfire from his own accomplices while trying to flee,” the spokesperson added.

The attackers fled the scene shortly afterward, he said. The police later moved the suspect’s body to the Gujranwala District Headquarters Hospital for an autopsy.

The spokesman said that a case was being lodged against the attackers and that the police had started an investigation into the incident.

Earlier on Monday, Gujranwala City Police Officer (CPO) Dr Ghias Gul told reporters at a news conference that police found two unidentified bodies of a 32-year-old woman and her five-year-old son along the bank of a canal near Citi Housing Society on Feb 10.

Both the deceased, he said, had been slain with a sharp-edged weapon. They were later identified, and a case of double murder was lodged on the report of a police official.

The CPO added that the suspect was nabbed by a special investigation team while attempting to flee.

The suspect, he said, had confessed to killing the woman and her two children, including her eight-month-old daughter Mubara. The second child’s body was recovered from the canal after the suspect was identified. The suspect revealed that he had killed the three victims to steal the gold earrings the woman was wearing.

The CPO added that the suspect had also confessed to killing a 13-year-old boy from Mado Khalil in the Ladhewala police precinct on December 20 last year.