KARACHI, Nov 28: Police on Friday claimed to have shot dead a man in an ‘encounter’ to get a hostage, kidnapped a week back, freed.

According to the police, the Anti-violent Crime Cell (AVCC), in coordination with the CPLC, raided a house in the small hours of Wednesday in Jaffar-i-Tayyar Society, Malir, on a tip off about the hostage and the kidnappers. However, the inmates started shooting at the police prompting the latter to return the fire.

Following the encounter, a man identified as Amir Raza alias Chand was found dead at the scene while the kidnap victim, Asif Ali Zaidi, an employee of a school, was recovered. He was kidnapped on Nov 20 and the kidnappers had sought from his family an amount of Rs2.5 million as ransom.

Police claimed that Chand’s two accomplices managed to flee from the hide-out.

The police claimed that during investigation, they had picked up Asif’s cousin, Nayyar, which had led to the tip off about the whereabouts of kidnappers and the victim.

A hunt for the absconders and interrogation with Nayyar are under way.