Accomplice escapes during police action in industrial area. STOCK IMAGE
Dilawar alias Murad alias Tiger and his companion, Arsalan Iqbal, were killed during an exchange of fire with the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) police when the police conducted a raid at their hideout in Korangi Industrial Area.
"We had a tip-off that the gang involved in some recent bank robberies in the city had arrived in Korangi Industrial Area to conduct another bank robbery," said SIU chief SP Farooq Awan, during a press conference at his office. "The SIU police started conducting snap checks and intercepted the three suspects on two motorcycles but the suspects, instead of stopping, tried to escape while firing indiscriminately at the police," he explained.
The officer said that the police fired back and killed two suspects, while their third companion, Farooq alias Choha, managed to escape. "They [deceased suspects] are professional bank robbers. They have been involved in three bank robberies in the city in the current year and were involved in various bank robberies in the past," said SP Awan. "They can be identified easily in the CCTV footages of the banks which they have robbed," he explained.
This is not the first such raid conducted in the Korangi Industrial Area by the SIU, as multiple raids have so far been conducted in the same locality in 2016.
The electronic media had recently highlighted the role of Dilawar Tiger in bank robberies. However, there were suspicions that the suspects were killed after being arrested. "A criminal is criminal," said Awan. "The people should care that he has been killed not how he has been killed." He said that Dilawar was wanted by the police since 2013.
Other encounters
Separately, the CTD claims to have arrested a notorious target killer who escaped from police custody during his trial at the anti-terrorism courts. The accused was identified as Tanvir alias Jambo. CTD's Inspector Tariq Islam said that the accused was arrested during a raid in Korangi and that weapons were also recovered from his possession. Inspector lslam said that the accused was wanted in various cases of target killings, robberies, police encounters and extortion in Quaidabad, Zaman Town and Hyderi.
District Malir police claim to have killed two suspected terrorists during an alleged encounter near Super Highway on Thursday. Malir SSP Rao Anwar said that the encounter took place near New Sabzi Mandi when the police conducted a raid at the hideout of the terrorists, adding that two terrorists were killed after an exchange of fire, while others managed to escape.
The bodies of the suspected militants were shifted to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth after medico-legal formalities completed at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. The militants were identified as Hameedullah and Saifullah. SSP Anwar said that the militants belonged to Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat and were planning to carry out a major terrorist activity in the city as explosives and weapons were recovered from their possession.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2016
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