Encounters and raids: Rangers gun down two ‘LeJ members’

KARACHI:

The Rangers claimed to have killed two suspected members of a banned sectarian outfit, while around 80 suspects were apprehended during overnight targeted operations in the city on Wednesday. Separately, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) police claimed to have arrested four members of a religious organisation for their alleged involvement in a bank robbery.

Two suspects were killed in an alleged encounter with the Rangers in the Ghaghar Phatak area. A Rangers spokesperson said that the paramilitary force was carrying out a raid when the militants opened fire on them. The Rangers retaliated and killed the two suspects, seizing weapons from their possession.

The bodies were shifted to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth for identification after medico-legal formalities were completed at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Rangers personnel later claimed that the deceased were Asim Khan alias Nadir alias Asad Swat and Irfan Gul alias Nasir. The spokesperson added that they belonged to the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and were involved in high-profile targeted killings and other crimes.

Separately, around 80 suspects were detained during overnight operations and raids conducted by the police and Rangers in parts of the city including Nazimabad, Nagan Chowrangi, Rizvia, alFalah and Shah Faisal Colony. The law enforcers claimed that they had seized weapons from the possession of some of the suspects, while most of them were released after being found innocent during interrogation.

The SIU police claimed to have apprehended four members of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) during a raid in Nursery. The suspects were identified as Zafarullah, Farhan, Raees and Inayatullah. Two repeaters and two pistols were also confiscated from them.

SIU chief SP Farooq Awan said that the men had been involved in a robbery at a Summit Bank branch in Baloch Colony on April 9, during which they looted cash and snatched a repeater from a security guard. "The arrested suspects are associated with the ASWJ and Zafarullah was the party's local leader for Baloch Colony," claimed SP Awan, adding that the police was trying to trace their absconding accomplices.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2015.