Encounters: Three suspected militants killed by police

An alleged robber was shot dead and four men arrested in raid.

KARACHI:

Three suspected militants were killed in an exchange of fire with the police in Pak Colony while an alleged street criminal was killed in a separate police encounter in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Sunday night.

Police officials claim to have killed three suspected militants in Pak Colony after District West investigation police raided a hideout on a tip-off. They added that the police faced massive resistance during the raid and returned fire, killing the three militants. Inspector Munir Chandio said that the militants, belonging to a banned organisation, were involved in target killing, especially of policemen, as well as extortion and robberies. He further said that the men, later identified as Khalid, Zeeshan and Katoor Khan, had recently killed ASI Hamid Khattak, an official of the Special Security Unit, and were suspected to be involved in bomb blasts in Pirabad and Frontier Colony. The police also claimed to have recovered a machine gun from their possession, along with other weapons. The bodies of the militants were shifted to the Edhi morgue after medico-legal formalities were completed at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH).

In a separate encounter between police and robbers in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, an alleged criminal was killed while his accomplice managed to escape. Police officials said that the two men were trying to flee on a motorcycle after injuring two passersby, Javed and Akram, in an attempted robbery, when they were intercepted by a routine police patrol.

The culprits tried to escape under cover of fire, but were chased by the police, who managed to kill one of the two suspects.

The deceased's body was taken to ASH for medico-legal formalities and later shifted to the Edhi morgue for identification.

In another raid, four suspects were arrested after an exchange of fire with the police in Jamshed Quarters. The arrested men were identified as Shahid Khan, Rafiq, Abdul Rehman and Naimat Khan. Police officials said that they were wanted for several cases of crime.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2014.