Picket police: Three killed in police encounter

BHAKKAR:

Three men were killed in a police encounter in Chak 27 near Bhakkar on Tuesday.

Police said that the men had earlier killed a constable on Sunday.

They said that Muhammad Arif Bakhsh, 24, his brother Muhammad Ayub Bakhsh, 22, and Haider Sher, 28, were stopped at a picket manned by members of the Elite Force, the Quick Response Force and Patrolling Police on Tuesday.

They shot at the policemen who returned fire. Police said that the three were killed in the crossfire. Their bodies were taken to the district headquarters hospital for autopsy.

District Police Officer Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali said that on Sunday the three had snatched a motorcycle from a man in Mela Ground.  Constable Shakeel had been informed and he chased them but they shot him dead. Ali said the three men had been nominated in nine cases registered at five police stations including Bhakkar City police station, Cantt police station, Jandanwala police station, Kalor Kot police station and Diliwala police station.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2016.