GUJRANWALA, Aug 13: Three dangerous outlaws involved in heinous crimes escaped from the Sabzi Mandi police lock-up after injuring seriously two guards with gunshot fire here on Friday.

As per reports, some visitors had approached the Sabzi Mandi muharrer to provide meal to accused Tanveer Ahmed, Eish Muhammad and Shabbir in the lock-up on Thursday night. Somehow they also succeeded in transporting arms along with food to their accomplices.

On Friday, another visitor came to the police station to retrieve the pots from the accused. The muharrer asked a constable to open the lock-up and returned pots to the visitor.

As soon as the constable opened the lock-up, the accused poured chili in the eyes of constables and then opened fire on them. Resultantly, constables Nawab Ahmad and Iftikhar Ahmad sustained bullet injuries. Later, the accused escaped in a car already parked outside the police station. The injured constables were rushed to the local DHQ Hospital in critical condition.

DPO Saud Aziz and other senior officers rushed to the spot and got information about the incident. The DPO suspended the entire staff of the Sabzi Mandi police station, including SHO Tariq Zafer, and ordered an inquiry against them.

He also got arrested the SHO, an ASI, muharrer and 10 other policemen, including the injured constables, and registered a case against them on the charge of dereliction of duty.

On the direction of Punjab IG Saadatullah Khan, Lahore Headquarters DIG (Investigation) Abdul Majid also reached here and recorded the statements of the SHO and other policemen.

It was learnt that the accused escaped through GT Road, but neither the Rescue 15 nor the Motorway police could spot the car despite giving them radio messages. The three fleeing accused had been wanted to Sabzi Mandi police in several cases of dacoity, murder, robbery and other heinous crime since long.

It was learnt that the Lahore police had arrested them and sent them to the central jail on judicial remand some two weeks ago. On learning about their arrest, some officials of the Sabzi Mandi police went to Lahore on Thursday last and brought them to Gujranwala for further investigation.