Five drug suspects 'killed in encounters'

LAHORE:

At least five alleged drug peddlers were killed in two purported police encounters involving the Chung and Iqbal Town Crime Control Department (CCD) teams.

Reportedly, four suspects in custody — Ashiq, Azim, Khurram and Aslam — were being taken by Iqbal Town CCD police for recovery of drugs and weapons when unidentified armed men opened fire in an attempt to free them. A spokesperson claimed that the bullets fired by the attackers hit the detained suspects, resulting in their death on the spot.

The attackers managed to flee.

No police personnel were reported injured in the incident.

In a separate incident in Chung, a suspected drug peddler, Javed, was killed during what police described as an encounter with CCD personnel.

The police said the bodies of all five suspects were shifted for post-mortem examination, while search operations and snap checking were launched in surrounding areas to trace the unidentified accomplices involved in the Iqbal Town incident

Meanwhile, Sabzi Mandi police arrested two suspected members of a gang involved in armed robberies committed to buy drugs. According to a spokesperson, acting on secret information, Sabzi Mandi police arrested John and Waqas near Baba Makhan Shah Darbar late in the night.