Three kidnapping suspects killed in ‘encounter’

Family of one of the deceased say the ‘encounter’ was a staged act.

FAISALABAD: Three men believed to be kidnappers were killed on Sunday in what the police said was an encounter.

The city police officer said that a Chak Jhumra police team, headed by Station House Officer Rana Mazharul Haq, had arrested Muhammad Ehtisham, a kidnapping suspect, a few days ago.

On Sunday, he said, the team was on its way to arrest another suspect on information obtained from Ehtisham. He said the police had also taken Ehtisham along to identify the place.

He said six men on three motorcycles stopped the police van near Chak 181-RB, Nalewala, and started shooting at the police team. The police shot back.

Police Constable Shahid Abbas was injured and taken to a hospital, where he was reported to be out of danger.

Two of the attackers, later identified as Arshad and Azmat, and Ehtisham were killed in the shootout. The four unidentified men fled.

The CPO said that Ehtisham had been arrested on charges of abducting a teenager, who was later killed and his body dumped after receiving ransom.

Relatives of Arshad, one of the deceased, later told the media that he had handed himself in to the police two days ago. They said the police let him go on Saturday night, chased him and killed him and Ehtisham in a “staged encounter”.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2013.