Six dacoits killed in encounters: police

Six alleged members of a gangs of dacoits were killed in two police encounters overnight. The police said several accomplices of the deceased escaped.

According to officials, the bodies were shifted to Allied Hospital for post-mortem examination.

In the first incident, a Crime Control Department (CCD) team raided a location in Rashidabad near Samundri Canal Bridge, where eight suspects were reportedly present.

As the police reached the place, the suspects opened fire, prompting an exchange that lasted around 20 minutes.

Four suspects – Haroon alias Shairi, Aftab alias Faizi, Shahbaz alias Shahbazi Sial and Naseer alias Naseeri were injured, allegedly by their own accomplices' firing, and later died while being transported to hospital, the officials claimed.

The four other suspects escaped.

Police said the deceased were wanted in a number of cases registered in several districts on the charges of murder, robbery and extortion. Weapons and two stolen motorcycles were recovered from their possession.

In a separate encounter near Chak No. 63-GB, a CCD team came under fire while attempting to arrest a proclaimed offender. In retaliatory firing, two suspects, Babar and Liaquat, were injured and arrested.

However, they died on the way to a hospital.

Police said both had criminal record and an investigation into the incident was under way.

Meanwhile, three suspected robbers were killed in an encounter with the CCD near Saar Muradwala Road in Chiniot. A CCD spokesperson said the deceased Ali Hamza, Naveed Abbas and Ghulam Raza were reportedly involved in cases of murder, robbery, kidnapping, and other crimes across the province.