Law and order: ‘TTP members’ killed in shootout

Police say deceased had attacked a mosque in Ramazan and killed constable and police volunteer

BAHAWALPUR: Police claimed on Saturday to have killed three members of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in a shootout. A police spokesman said the deceased had attacked a mosque in Ramazan and killed constable Haibat Khan and police volunteer Abdul Sattar. He said Ghulam Hussain, Ahsanul Haq and Qari Nazeer Ahmad were arrested in a raid on Thursday. He said during investigation, the men had told Inspector Tahir Khan that they had stashed their weapons near Burji 30. Khan led a police team along with Hussain, Haq and Sattar to recover the weapons. The spokesman said on their way back the police team was attacked by seven armed men near Laaran village. He said Constable Abdul Hameed was injured in the attack. He said the men freed Hussain, Haq and Sattar and fled. He said police issued warnings on wireless and pickets were set up around the area near Baakhri village. He said the criminals shot at the police at one of these pickets and Uch Sharif Station House Officer Azhar Javed’s team retaliated. He said the shooting continued for a while and when it stopped, the police found that Haq, Nazeer and Hussain had been left behind with injuries. He said they later died at a hospital. Police also seized a submachine gun from the scene.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2014.