Three ‘robbers’ killed in ‘shootout’ with police

Shopkeepers in the area said they only saw a police van, no fleeing robbers.

LAHORE:

Nawankot CIA police shot three people near Johar Town graveyard on Sunday night in what they called a shootout with robbers.

DSP Malik Fayyaz said the robbers had snatched a motorcycle from a man in Nawab Town. He said a police van near Akbar Chowk was alerted about it through wireless. He said the policemen in the van saw the men approach and signalled them to stop, but they shot at the police van, and drove away.

Police said they chased the men and caught up with them near Johar Town graveyard, where an exchange of fire took place. Police said the robbers soon ran out of ammunition, and were shot dead.

The DSP said those killed had been identified as Shujaat, Amjad and Sajjad.

Some shopkeepers in the area told The Express Tribune they had seen the police team but no men on a motorcycle.

When allowed to the see the bodies, some reporters pointed out that the bullet wounds did not appear to be fresh and that there was no blood on the ground.

The DSP said bullet wounds dried within an hour. He said most reporters had arrived over an hour after the encounter. A senior (operations) police officer said operations police and the Mujahid Squad were the first to respond to a call on police emergency helpline (15). He said the CIA did not fall in the wireless net.

He said police were alerted through a wireless, which could also be heard by the CIA police falling into the area frequency. However, he said, CIA police were not supposed to respond to these calls.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2014.