TOBA TEK SINGH: Three robbery suspects were killed in an alleged police encounter in Rajana area in early hours of Monday.

Rajana police received an information on call by Muhammad Ilyas of Chak 338-GB that a gang of six robbers was looting people on a link road in the Rajana area. He complained that the robbers had snatched a motorcycle, cash and mobile phone from him.

When police reached there and intercepted the robbers near Chak 337-GB, the suspects threw their three motorcycles, including a snatched one, and took shelter in nearby fields. They opened fire on police who retaliated while more policemen were called from other police stations.

The crossfire lasted for two hours.

When the firing stopped from suspects’ side, police found bodies of three of them while three others had managed to escape.

The dead robbers were identified as Liaqat Ali of Sarai Sidhu (Khanewal), Muhammad Shafiq of Kamalia and Shahbaz Ahmad of Chak 294-GB of Toba Tek Singh.

District police spokesperson Attaullah claimed all the killed suspects were wanted by police in dozens of robbery cases. He said the police were conducting raids to arrest the other three robbers who had fled.

He also claimed that the deceased suspects were not killed by police bullets but they had died of the bullets fired by their own accomplices.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2021