Shootout: Three killed, five injured

Rescue 1122 officials say the injured were in critical condition.

LAHORE:

Three people, including a woman, were killed and five injured in a shoot out in the Badami Bagh police precinct on Saturday.

The deceased were identified as Mamoona Bibi, 50; her body guard, Ishfaq, and a passerby, Awais.

Mamoona’s other bodyguards, Kabeer and Faqir, and three passersby – Shahid, Yaqoob and Allah Ditta – were taken to Mayo Hospital. Rescue 1122 officials said they were in critical condition according to doctors who treated them at the hospital.

Badami Bagh station house officer Inspector Ahmad Raza suspected that the killings were linked to an old rivalry. He said the woman belonged to Malik Zahid group who had a property dispute with Advocate Arif Bhinder’s family. He said Advocate Bhinder had already been killed in connection with the same dispute.

He said that according to eyewitnesses’ account four unidentified men on two motorcycles stopped Mamoona’s car near Old Ravi Chowk and started shooting at it. He said that on making sure that the woman was dead the men fled the scene.

He said they had not yet registered an FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2011.