The statement said that it was telling that on the same night, the police had raided the house of AMP leader Badrunissa in an attempt to arrest her. PHOTO: AFP
Two police officials were injured in the incident, it said.
Okara DPO Faisal Rana told The Express Tribune that the raid was carried out on a tip-off about the presence of eight terrorism suspects at a farm house in Chak 28-2R, in Satghara area. He said intelligence available with the police suggested that the suspects were planning an attack at his office.
Rana said when the raiding party reached the scene the suspects opened fire at it, injuring two officials. He said six of the suspects were shot and killed in the shootout. One of them was apparently trying to blast a suicide vest he was wearing when he was shot, he said. Two others had fled, he added.
Rana said a large cache of arms and ammunition, including rocket launchers, suicide jackets, hundreds of bullets, grenades, mortars and maps of DPO offices in several southern districts including Okara, was seized from the suspects.
He said the police was pursuing the matter further with the help of information gathered from the scene.
Rana said four of the six deceased had been identified as Amir Sohaib, Saeedur Rahman, Samee and Yasubur Rahman. They had belonged to Hangu, Attock, Bannu and Shangla districts. He said more raids would be carried out in the area to arrest the remaining two suspects.
An intelligence official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the suspects had been hiding at the dera of Naeem Jhakkar, whose brother Saleem Jhakkar is under custody on terrorism charges. Saleem Jhakkar is the general secretary of the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab-Kulyana Estate.
A statement released by the Anjuman Mazareen Punjab and the Awami Workers’ Party called baseless the claim that some criminals had been hiding at Jhakkar’s dera.
It said Salim Jhakhar had been taken into custody because of his role in the AMP’s struggle for a fair distribution of agricultural land.
AMP general secretary Noor Nabi said the police had staged an encounter at the house of a retired army official in Kulyana Estate. He said the AMP was not aware of the identity of those killed, who may as well be militants. However, none of the six had been at Jhakkar’s dera as per the DPO’s claim, he added.
The statement said that the AWP had long opposed Islamist militancy and called for civilian government’s action to protect ordinary people’s lives. However, in this case, the AWP was deeply concerned at what appeared to be an attempt to falsely implicate the AMP leaders in terrorism cases and to undermine their peaceful struggle for land rights, it added.
The statement said that it was telling that on the same night, the police had raided the house of AMP leader Badrunissa in an attempt to arrest her. She had barely managed to flee Okara fearing for her life, it added.
It said that the National Action Plan should not be used to suppress peasants’ struggles for land rights and cases registered against them under anti-terrorist laws should be immediately withdrawn.
It demanded an independent and transparent investigation to ascertain the veracity of the police’s version of the shootout.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th, 2016.
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