‘Car thief’ killed in ‘police encounter’

Police tracked down stolen car's location, conducted raid after receiving complaint of car snatching

KARACHI: A suspected car lifter, from a group of three, was killed in an alleged police encounter on Thursday, after police tracked down the deceased and his accomplices and conducted a raid near Hassan Panhwar Goth, following an incident of car snatching.

East District SSP Tanveer Alam Odho told The Express Tribune that police had received a complaint that three armed men, on a motorcycle, had snatched a white Toyota Grande, bearing the registration number BRE-999. The car's owner, Abdur Raheem Ghani, who runs a garment factory, informed the police of the incident on Madadgar-15 helpline, he said.

On receiving the complaint, Bahadurabad Police tracked down the stolen car, which had a tracker installed, the SSP revealed, adding that the car was driven to Hassan Panhwar Goth, in the jurisdiction of Shah Latif Town Police Station, after it was snatched. Shah Latif Town Police were apprised of the incident, following which police parties from the latter and Bahadurabad Police conducted a raid in the area, he said.

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According to SSP Odho, the suspects opened fire on police on seeing them and police personnel fired in retaliation. One of the suspects, identified as Zahir Hussain, son of Sikandar, died in the crossfire, another was injured while one managed to escape, he said.

Revealing further information, SHO Aurangazeb Khattak said that the injured suspect has been identified as Amjad Ali, son of Ghulam Ali, who was arrested by the police and is being interrogated. Meanwhile, Rashid, son of Lahoti, who too was involved in the crime, fled during the raid, he added.

The SHO said that Hussain and Ali have a previous record of being involved in incidents of car lifting in Jacobabad. They used to snatch cars at gunpoint in the city and would later sell these to buyers in Quetta, Larkanan and Jacobabad, he added.

He said the CCTV footage of the incident has been acquired, in which the suspects can be seen hitting Ghani on the head with a gun. After hitting him, two of the suspects drove away in his car while the third rode away on the motorcycle.

Besides recovering the stolen car, police seized mobile phones, three TT pistols and other valuables from the suspects' possession, said SSP Odho.

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A police official, Head Constable Nazakat, was also injured in the crossfire and was shifted to a hospital, where East District DIG Amir Farooqui and other officials visited him.

Separately, another group of three unidentified car lifters attempted to snatch a black Corolla XLI at gunpoint and took the driver captive near Kaneez Fatima Apartments in Gulzar-e-Hijri. They also tried to remove the tracker installed in the car but were interrupted when a police party reached the site. On seeing the police, they fled.

The driver had reached the sight to pick up children from school when the incident took place. He has given a statement to the police, on the basis of which an investigation has been initiated. The car too has been shifted to a police station.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2019.