Mob justice Villagers kill 4 ‘robbers’

Police called after the ‘robbers’ had been killed, fatally injured.

TOBA TEK SINGH/JARANWALA:

Four robbery suspects were killed in shootouts and torture by residents in two villages on Wednesday.

(Read: Vigilantes torture alleged robbers to death)

Three men who had allegedly broken into Imdad Hussain’s house in a Toba Tek Singh village died from bullet and torture wounds they.

One of them died on way to the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital and the other two later expired at the hospital.

Several villagers told the police that the deceased shot at them when they were surrounded after Hussain shouted for help.

They said the suspects were trying to choke Hussain to death by placing a pillow on his face while he was asleep in a charpoy in the courtyard of his house in Chak No517 GB.

The villagers said they shot back at the men injuring all three of them. “They were beaten up before somebody called police,” they said. They said the three had earlier held up Hussain’s wife and deprived her of her jewellery, cash and car keys.

Rajana police said the bodies were sent to the morgue for an autopsy.

They said cash and jewellery taken from Hussain’s house and as well as the weapons used by the robbers had been seized.

Two cases have been registered against unidentified men on charges of killing the three suspects.

In another incident in 72 GB Gaddian, Jaranwala, a robbery suspect was killed by villagers while his five accomplices managed to escape.

The six men were stopping the passersby at gunpoint and robbing them at a picket they had set up on the main road, the villagers told the police.

They said they ambushed the suspects and shot one of them on the spot.

Police said they had registered a case against unidentified men and sent the body for an autopsy.

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