GUJRANWALA, Aug 22: A proclaimed offender and two policemen were killed while five other policemen, including an SHO, were injured in a shootout in Nogran village near Sodhra, Wazirabad, on Friday morning.
Sajjad, alias Fauji, was among top-10 criminals wanted in kidnapping for ransom, murder, robberies and other heinous crimes for the past two years.
On a tip-off that he was present in his house in Nogran village, a heavy contingent of Gujranwala, Gurjrat and Sialkot police reached there.
Before launching an offensive, Sadar Superintendent of Police Ather Waheed contacted the PO through his relatives to surrender but he remained adamant.
Later, the PO and his accomplices opened fire on which the police retaliated and PO Sajjad and ASI Kamran and constable Chaman Gul of Wazirabad Sadar police were killed in the ensuing shootout, which continued for around 16 hours.
Five policemen including Wazirabad city SHO, Inspector Asif Nadeem, and four constables also received bullet injuries. They were hospitalised in critical condition.
The police arrested as many 72 villagers, including Sajjad’s relatives, on charges of harbouring a PO and his men and also set his house on fire.
Sajjad was numberdar of his village but later became ringleader of his gang of criminals. His four brothers are serving in army, two are in Greece and one is imprisoned.
DIG Zulfiqar Ahmed Cheema and senior police officers supervised the operation.
Later, the bodies of both police officials were handed over to their families after offering their funeral at the Police Lines on Friday. The DIG announced Rs2 million rewards for each martyred policeman.
GCCI: Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) president Riaz Mahmood and other office-bearers have urged the government to check price-like on a priority basis.
In a press statement issued here on Friday, they demanded a cut in prices of food items at utility stores during the month of Ramazan and as well as local fair price shops.
CONVICTED: An additional sessions judge here on Friday convicted a man and his accomplice to death for killing his wife, and fined them Rs200,000 each.
According to prosecution, Muhammad Asif, with the help of Nawaz, a fake spiritual healer, had beaten his wife Shabana to death for giving birth to girls only, in Farid Town here on April 13, 2007.
FIA: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested three proclaimed offenders involved in human trafficking here on Friday.
FIA additional director Hussain Asghar told Dawn that Jamshaid wanted to the FIA in 20 cases was arrested from Dinga while Ijaz and Zahoor wanted in four cases were arrested from Gujrat.
DEMO: Relatives of a man who was killed in a shootout with police on Thursday demonstrated and threw traffic on GT Road out of gear for quite some time here on Friday.
The protesters alleged that police killed Liaqat Ali only because he could not stop his motorcycle at Kangniwala by-pass.
They demanded that an impartial inquiry should be conducted into Liaqat’s killing. Later, they dispersed when senior police office ensured them that they would be provided justice.