LAHORE, March 15: Six ‘outlaws’ were gunned down in an ‘encounter’ outside the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park in Allama Iqbal Town in the wee hours of Saturday in which no policeman was injured.

Some area residents said they were awakened by a heavy fire which continued for about an hour.

Iqbal Town police claimed they received a call on 15 emergency number at 3:30am that five to six criminals had snatched a motorcycle (LEM-6433) and a car (LEA-2991) near the Pilot High School.

The police said the criminals also deprived the car owner, Nasir Majeed, a resident of Samnabad, and his wife of cash, gold ornaments and other valuables, who was returning from a marriage ceremony.

The outlaws, two of whom were on the motorcycle, drove towards Asif Block.

The police, after receiving the call, started chasing the outlaws. Meanwhile, some other police teams also joined the hunt.

A police team spotted the snatched vehicle on Main Boulevard but the criminals, after seeing them, sped away towards Gulshan Park.

According to an official handout, the outlaws kept firing on the chasing police party. The police also returned the fire which forced the outlaws to leave their vehicles near Gate 5 of the park.

The handout said the crossfire continued for an hour, resulting in the death of all the criminals.

Police identified four of the dead outlaws as Waseem, Waheed Muraad, Abdul Gaffar alias Ghaffari and Yasir Khan.

Police said they were wanted in a number of cases of dacoity, robbery and murder registered in districts of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Gujranwala.

Bodies were removed to the city mortuary for autopsy and two cases were registered against the dead criminals under sections 395, 353, 324, 427, 186 of the PPC, 7 ATA and 13/20/65 of the Arms Ordinance.

Police also claimed to have seized five pistols and a rifle, besides the booty from the crime scene.

One Riaz Khan, who was asleep outside a shop near Dubai Chowk, told Dawn that he woke up to a heavy exchange of fire early in the morning.

“I ran for life in the opposite direction, and when I returned after sometime a heavy police contingent had cordoned off the area,” he said.

A park employee said at least three outlaws were killed inside the park.

The blood on a park pavement, which was later washed away, lends credence to his observation.