Police action: Five suspects shot dead in bid to rescue abductees

Sukkur police raid kidnappers’ hideouts in katcha areas

SUKKUR: Five alleged criminals were killed during encounters with the police in Usta Muhammad, Balochistan, and Bagarji near Sukkur in a bid to recover abductees on Monday.

Led by Sukkur SSP Tanveer Hussain Tunio, a police party conducted raids in the katcha areas of Usta Muhammad in Balochistan. The police faced resistance from the kidnappers and in the resultant exchange of fire, two suspects — Sattar Shaikh, the brother of wanted criminal Mir Shaikh, and Latif Buriro alias Kana Buriro — were gunned down.

The police also apprehended an injured suspect and seized two Kalashnikovs and a cache of ammunition from the possession of the deceased and detained suspects.

Tunio claimed that the police also raided the katcha area of Bagarji on a tip-off, where the police shot dead three more suspects in another encounter. The deceased were identified as Karam Shaikh, who has head money of Rs500,000, Najeeb and Haleem Buriro.

The operation is being conducted to recover kidnapping victims, including Saeed Chishti, a pilot for a private airline who was abducted from Karachi over a month ago. According to police sources, the raids in Usta Muhammad and Bagarji took place on the basis of information that the abductees were being held captive in the border areas of Sindh and Balochistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2015.