SIALKOT, March 29: A head constable was killed while seven other policemen, including a sub-inspector, sustained injuries in an encounter with an alleged proclaimed offender and his five accomplices in the wee hours of Saturday.

Hajipura police received information that proclaimed offender Salim and his five companions were present in a house in Mubarakpura, a thickly populated area of the city. A squad headed by a Sub-Inspector Anwar raided the house at about 2:30am. The alleged criminals became unnerved on seeing the police and opened fire on them. SI Anwar, head constables Habib Butt, Maqsood Ahmad and Mahmood Ahmad, and constables Ashraf, Nasir Javed, Musawar and Afzal sustained bullet injuries. The other members of the police squad returned the fire but the alleged criminals fled from the scene.

The injured policemen were rushed to the DHQ Hospital. SI Anwar, head constable Mahmood Ahmad and constables Afzal and Musawar were referred to the Mayo Hospital, Lahore, due to serious injuries. Head constable Mahmood succumbed to his injuries there.

Funeral prayers for head constable Mahmood Ahmed were offered at the Police Lines and he was buried in his ancestral graveyard in the evening.

The Sialkot DPO consisted three teams for the arrest of the alleged proclaimed offenders.

Meanwhile, Gujranwala range DIG Malik Iqbal, Nazim Mian Naeem Javed visited the hospital and inquired after the health of the injured personnel. — Correspondent