Two killed in gunfight with police

Rawalpindi police arrest 26 alleged land grabbers during raid

RAWALPINDI:

Two suspects were killed in a retaliatory fire while 26 others, including some injured, arrested by the police during fierce clashes with armed members of the land mafia within the limits of Chakri police station.

Police sources said the suspects, armed with modern weapons, kept firing at the police for two hours while eight companies of elite police commandos participated in the operation.

The sources said police demolished illegal bunkers and camps set up at a private housing society with the help of heavy machinery.

According to police, there was a report of encroachment on a large area within the limits of Chakri police station and as soon as a police team reached the spot, the suspects, equipped with modern weapons, opened fire at the police.

“The suspects continued to fire continuously for two hours from the illegal bunkers,” the police sources claimed. “Seeing the tensed situation, the personnel from Rawalpindi’s 10 police stations and eight sections of the elite commandos were called on the spot,” they added.

The police said that an armoured vehicle was also sent to the spot.

Sadar SP Muhammad Nabil Khokhar also participated in the operation under the supervision of SSP Operations Waseem Riaz.

A police spokesperson said that all the police personnel remained unharmed in the clash with the suspects.

“CPO Syed Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari had instructed all the police personnel in the operation to use bullet-proof helmets and jackets,” the spokesperson said.

He said the suspects had taken positions at an altitude from where they kept firing at the police, however, the police formations continued to move forward. On the directives of the Sadar SP, the bunkers were demolished with the help of heavy machinery, he added.

The police claimed to have recovered thousands of spent bullet shells, weapons and magazines from the bunkers.

The spokesperson said that the people of the area were in a state of fear and panic due to the clash.

The police had cordoned off the area to ensure the safety of the residents and instructed them with the help of loudspeakers to stay at their homes.

The spokesperson said that messages were also given to the suspects to surrender and added that a case of firing at the police will be registered at Chakri police station under the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

He said the bodies of the suspects, who were killed during the encounter with the police, have been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital for post-mortem while the arrested suspects were being tactfully interrogated.

The spokesperson said that the force was called back as a self-defence tactic before the darkness spread and added that the operation would continue today [Wednesday].

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2023.