Downtown shooting: ‘Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’ man killed in encounter

Cop killed, three injured; suicide vest, 10 hand grenades recovered.

FAISALABAD: A policeman and a man believed to be a sectarian terrorist were killed in an encounter with police in People’s Colony on Tuesday. Three accomplices of the terrorist escaped. Three policemen were injured in the shootout.

Requesting anonymity, a police officer said the men were from Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, a militant organisation banned since 2001.

Police had collected a suicide vest, 10 hand grenades, two Kalashnikov rifles, five pistols and five magazines, spokesman Muhammad Ramazan said.

He said two squads of Rescue 15, consisting of Constables Zeeshan, Ghulam Mustafa, Shoaib and Haseeb Ahmad, were on a routine patrol on their motorcycles when they spotted the suspects in a car.

“They were driving towards Hashmat Khan Road. When the policemen signalled them to stop, they opened fire killing Constable Haseeb Ahmad and injuring Zeeshan, Ghulam Mustafa and Shoaib,” Ramazan said. He said one of the men was killed in police firing. He said his three accomplices had fled leaving the car behind.

The injured policemen were taken to the Divisional Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital. The body of the terrorist was taken to Allied Hospital’s mortuary, the spokesman said.

DCO Noorul Amin Mengal, RPO Ehsan Taufail and CPO Afzaal Kausar inspected the site soon after the shootout. The CPO announced a Rs300,000 bounty for information leading to the suspects’ arrest.

Search operation

Police launched a search after the shootout and arrested nearly two dozen people from various areas.

Ramazan said the car used by the “terrorists” had had two number plates. He said a suicide vest, 10 hand grenades and other weapons and ammunition were also seized from the scene. He said the arrested men had been moved to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

IGP Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera telephoned CPO Afzaal Kausar and praised Faisalabad police for killing a terrorist. The IGP also directed the CPO to enhance security across the city.

The slain constable had been a resident of Chak 209. The 28-year-old is survived by a wife and a son.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2015.