Police ‘justice’ : Three suspects killed in encounter

One suspect accused of killing three traffic wardens in Khi

HYDERABAD: In what bears the hallmarks of a controversial encounter, three suspects, including one allegedly involved in the 2013 targeted killing of three traffic wardens in Karachi, have been shot dead by law enforcers.

The Hyderabad police claim that Humayun alias Kainchi, Irfan alias Laddu and Najeeb Akbar sustained gunshot wounds and died after an exchange of fire with the police during a raid.

Hussainabad SHO Mir Imdad Talpur, in whose jurisdiction the encounter took place, said the operation continued for around 20 minutes during the early hours of Wednesday.

The deceased belonged to Karachi, with each nominated in around four to 11 cases of murder, attempted murder, robberies and encounters in various police stations of Karachi, according to the Hyderabad police.

"They came here to carry out some target killings ... when [the] police got information and raided their hideout the encounter started and three of them got killed while two escaped," Hyderabad SSP Irfan Baloch told The Express Tribune.

Humayun, son of Altaf Hussain Gujrati and a resident of Garden West, was nominated in the 2013 FIR at Soldier Bazaar police station for the target killing of traffic wardens Nasrullah, Muhammad Saad and Farooq Haneef. A passerby, Imran Ismail, was injured in that incident.

Of the four other cases against Humayun, in one he is accused of murdering Haneef Nazim according to an FIR registered at the Risala police station in 2011, disclosed SSP Baloch. Meanwhile, Irfan, a resident of Punjab Chowrangi, was nominated in six FIRs including one of a target killing lodged at the Pak Colony police station in 2005. The other cases against him relate to robberies, encounters, illegal weapons possession and attempted murder.

Najeeb, who lived in Liaquatabad, was accused in 11 FIRs registered from 2003 to 2011 at Buffer Zone, Sir Syed, Gulberg, Pak Colony and SITE-B police stations. The police claim that he was also involved in waylaying and robberies in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Multan and Kabirwala.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2016.