Three alleged robbers killed in encounter

All three suspects were residents of Faisalabad

OKARA:

Three suspects killed by police in a shootout near Saddar police station were identified on Saturday. The dead suspects hailed from Faisalabad and were wanted by police in connection with heinous crimes, including murder, attempted murder, terrorism and robbery.

While speaking to Express, DPO Mansoor Aman stated that the three suspects killed in the encounter on Saturday night were Imran Mani, Sarwar and Sabir Hussain, all residents of Faisalabad district.

They were wanted in dozens of cases registered by police in Faisalabad, Nankana Sahib, Okara and other districts. These three suspects were treated as extremely dangerous and were considered a sign of danger, DPO Mansoor Aman said. Police are conducting operations to capture the accomplices of the deceased suspects.

The bodies of the dead suspects were turned over to their heirs after necessary legal action. DPO Aman hailed the team that involved in the police encounter and announced cash prizes and certificates of appreciation.

Police encounters are very common in Punjab, and Okara has seen several over the past few years. In October of last year, five suspects were killed by police during an encounter. Four alleged robbers who had been on the run after having martyred a sub-inspector were killed in an alleged police encounter in the limits of Shah Bhore Police Station on Tuesday afternoon.

According to DPO Furqan Bilal, Sub-Inspector Sarwar Akram, in charge of the Farid Nagar Chowki in Pakpattan, had been martyred and two other policemen injured when they came under attack by the robbers in Pakpattan in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Sub-Inspector Sarwar Akram and his colleagues had intercepted the robbers after they had looted a wedding party. In the exchange of fire, Sarwar embraced martyrdom while two of his associates sustained injuries. One bandit was killed in retaliatory fire while six other bandits fled towards Yusufwala area of Sahiwal.

Police teams from Pakpattan and Sahiwal mounted a chase to get the culprits. In the meantime, the fugitives entered the jurisdiction of Shah Bhore Police Station in Okara from Sahiwal.

On receiving this information, DPO Furqan Bilal sent a heavy police force to Shah Bhore area to arrest the bandits. Upon seeing the police party, the robbers entered a nearby agriculture farm where they took positions and started firing at the police party. On retaliatory fire by the police, four robbers were killed, but two of their accomplices escaped.

To arrest the bandits who had escaped, DPO Farqan Bilal cordoned off the entire district and formed different teams.

The bodies of the dead robbers were shifted to the DHQ Hospital under the supervision by the SHO of Shah Bhore Police Station.

Police also recovered a huge amount of looted goods, gold ornaments and weapons from the possession of the dead robbers.According to DPO Furqan Bilal, the dead robbers had not been identified yet. The funeral prayers of Shaheed Sub-Inspector Mohammad Sarwar Akram of Pakpattan Police was offered at the DPO Office in Pakpattan.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2023.