Police encounter: Suspect killed in ‘shootout’ with police

The relatives of the deceased protest against police alleging a fake encounter.

FAISALABAD:

A man suspected of murder and robbery was killed in a shootout with police on Wednesday.

Millat Town Station House Officer (SHO) Abid Zafar told the media that the suspect, Javaid, a resident of Diyal Garh, was wanted in several cases.

He said Javaid had escaped police custody when he jumped out of a police van near Chak 196-RB last Thursday.

He said a “special team” had been formed to arrest Javaid following his escape.

On Wednesday, Zafar said police caught up with the suspect near Dhanola Bypass following a tip-off. “When the policemen asked him to surrender he opened fire at them… when police returned the fire Javaid got hit and died on the spot.”

The relatives of the deceased later staged a protest demonstration against police alleging a “fake police encounter.”

Amjad Sagheer, one of the protestors, told the media that Javaid had never escaped police custody.

“The escape story was spread by police… it does not make sense… How can a man handcuffed and being escorted by policemen escape by jumping from a police van?”

Sagheer said, “The police also made up the part about his opening fire at the police team.”

He alleged that the police had shot Javaid in a “fake encounter” because they had “accepted a bribe from his rivals.”

SHO Abid Zafar told The Express Tribune that the allegations against Millat Town police were false. Workplace safety

Boy killed, 3 injured in cylinder explosion

A boy was killed and three other people were injured when a gas cylinder at an electronics shop in Gojra exploded on Wednesday.

Rescuers said the shop owner, Zafar Iqbal, his son Mudassar, and workers, Muhammad Naeem, Tanzeel and Abdur Rehman, 12, were injured in the explosion.

They said the injured were taken to a hospital where Tanzeel succumbed to his injuries. Zafar and Mudassar were critical and had been referred to Allied Hospital Faisalabad, they said.

Khurram Ali, a witness, said the explosion was heard in the areas surrounding Tehsil Road.

He said rescuers pulled out the injured from the shop’s basement and took them to the hospital.

The Gojra police station house officer said a complaint had been registered but no one had been arrested as the shop owners were among the victims.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2014.