‘Robber’ killed in shootout with police

FAISALABAD:

Samanabad police on Sunday claimed to have killed a robber in a shootout with a group of robbers. Two robbers, police said, were arrested, while one of their accomplices fled.

An assistant sub inspector and a constable were also injured in the shootout.  They were taken to a hospital, where doctors treating them said that they were out of danger.

City Police Officer Haidar Ashraf told The Express Tribune that four armed men had forced into a grocery shop, owned by Shehzad Umar, near Tahli Chowk in Samanabad.

They took the cash from the counter and also picked up some grocery items before they left.

Umar informed the police, who surrounded the area and saw the men driving towards Eidgah Road on motorcycles.  The CPO said that the men were told to stop but sped off.

A police team, headed by Factory Area DSP Malik Khalid and Samanabad SHO Saeed Anwar Baloch, chased the men.

The men shot at the police. The police shot back. ASI Muhammad Asif and Constable Ali Bahadur were injured and taken to General Hospital, where they were said to be out of danger.

One of the robbers was killed, while three fled. Two of them were arrested later.

DSP Khalid said that the deceased and those arrested had yet to be indentified. He said the police believed they would be able to trace a criminal gang using information obtained from those arrested. The body of the deceased was sent for a post-mortem examination. Police said they were looking for the robber who had escaped.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2014.