Robbery escalates into police encounter

A shopkeeper was assaulted and injured during a robbery at his grocery shop at dawn on Monday.

According to the police report, Naseer Ahmed had opened his grocery shop in Siddiqabad area of Razaabad police station at dawn when three robbers entered the shop. They took Naseer hostage and stole his money. Naseer resisted and grabbed one of the robbers, so they struck him in the head with the butt of a pistol to release his accomplice. Naseer sustained injuries.

Meanwhile, teams led by SHO Razaabad, Sub-Inspector Khalid Kaliar, and Assistant Sub-Inspector, Rana Najam-ul-Hassan, were on their way to the shop after receiving information on Rescue 15, when they signalled three suspicious motorcyclists to stop. The motorcyclists did not comply and opened fire on the police party.

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During the ensuing gunfight, Sher Ali, a resident of Hajvery Town Street No. 4, was shot and injured by his accomplices, Babar and Akhtar. The robbers rushed him to Allied Hospital with injuries, where police arrived thereafter. When they questioned the injured Sher Ali, he could not give a satisfactory answer.

SHO Kaliar took his identity card and after checking records, he was found to have a history of robbery cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2022.