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LAHORE, Oct 20: Five people, including three alleged carjackers and a smuggler, were killed in two encounters with police here on Wednesday.
Three carjackers were killed in a shootout with police at South Cantonment. Police said Sheikh Ashfaq, a resident of Defence Housing Society's Block M, was on way home when four armed men stopped his car (LRQ-9663) early Wednesday morning.
Mr Ashfaq was talking to his wife on his cell phone and he immediately informed her about the situation. The gunmen held him up and took over the steering.
His wife, in the meantime, rang up at the police emergency in response to which two patrol parties reached there and rounded up the car in Block Y, and ordered its occupants to stop. The outlaws instead opened fire on the police and accelerated, making the police chase and return fire. At R A Bazaar, the police again rounded up the car and exchanged fire with the carjackers.
Superintendents Police Zubair Nawaz and Waseem Khan reached the troubled spot and supervised the operation, which left three of the carjackers injured. They were taken to a hospital nearby where they were pronounced dead. The fourth outlaw went missing.
The car owner also got bullet injuries and was admitted to a private hospital in Defence where his condition was stated to be out of danger.
The Cantonment SP said the car-snatchers were identified through their belongings as Syam alias Sunny, Aslam and Ejaz, all in their 20s.
The bodies were sent to the city mortuary for autopsy. The police registered a case and started hunt for the absconder.
Meanwhile, a Customs official and an alleged smuggler were killed in a shootout at Saggian Bridge.
Customs Superintendent Shuja Haider Kazmi said a team was sent to Babu Sabu on a piece of information that a smuggling consignment was being transported to Lahore.
A bus (Nowshera-C/1188) was signalled to stop, but its driver sped away after which the team chased it by a jeep and indulged in a crossfire.
The bus driver suffered a bullet wound and the next moment both the vehicles collided and went off the road. The bus driver, identified as Anwar Shah, and Customs official Javed Ashraf died on the spot.
Three more of the officials suffered injuries and were taken to the Mayo Hospital where they were discharged after first aid treatment.
The police also reached the spot and arrested five smugglers, three women among them. A large number of imported cloth pieces and automobile spare parts were seized from the bus, the superintendent said, and added at least two of the alleged smugglers managed their escape with three bags most probably carrying drugs.
He said his department had announced Rs500,000 compensation for the deceased official and Rs50,000 each for the injured. Besides, the children of the deceased would be given education free of cost. The bodies were removed to the mortuary.
MURDERS: A man and a woman were murdered in separate incidents in the city on Wednesday.
Muhammad Shafiq of Kot Lakhpat told police that his wife Azra Perveen, 38, a mother of seven, was set ablaze by his nephew Muhammad Rafiq. She got burns and died at the Mayo Hospital. He claimed that the nephew had a property dispute with his wife.
The body was sent to the city mortuary for autopsy. A case was registered with no arrest so far.
Safarish Ali, 32, a rickshaw driver, was shot dead allegedly by his former wife Nazia, her father and three brothers at Siraj Park in Shahdara Town.
Married for five years, the couple remained issueless and had signed a divorce document some weeks ago. The woman wanted to get her dowry back, which the former husband would deny.
Nazia together with her father Allah Rakha and three brothers - Saqib, Sohail and Nazakat- visited the driver and had an argument with him. Her brothers allegedly opened fire on the driver and escaped. He suffered injuries and died on way to the nearest hospital. The body was sent to the city mortuary for autopsy. A case was registered with no arrest so far.
