ISLAMABAD, May 1: The encounter in which two proclaimed offenders were killed by police overnight was ‘fake’, relatives of the dead men claimed on Sunday.

The victims had surrendered but police shot them dead, they claimed. The family members also staged a protest demonstration against the police at the hospital.

The two persons, declared as proclaimed offenders, were killed during a shootout between the police and the accused which started at 9:15pm Saturday night and continued well beyond midnight. Eight of their accomplices, however, managed to escape. The police also found a Kalashnikov, a mouzer and seven handgrenades from the site.

Nadeem, 24, and Shanvaiz, 23, both residents of Bari Imam, were wanted in the murder of Raja Akram, caretaker of Bari Imam shrine.

Sub-Inspector of Secretariat police station Mohammad Irshad told Dawn that the police had received information that some criminals were hiding in a green area between Murad Gali and Rata Huttar (Pir Sohawa) and were planning to attack the house of late Raja Akram on Saturday night.

The SI said pickets were established at different points and the accused were intercepted near Bari Imam. On seeing the police, they opened fire and also threw handgrenades at them.

The police retaliated as a result of which Nadeem and Shanvaiz were injured. However, they managed to escape into the woods along with their accomplices. Later, their bodies were found which were shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

The two men were identified as close relatives of Tanveer, the main accused in the murder of Raja Akram.

According to autopsy reports, Nadeem received four bullet injuries in the upper parts of his body, while Shanvaiz received seven bullets also in the upper parts of his body. The bodies were handed over to the families after the autopsy.