Nine suspects killed, two policemen injured in CCD 'encounters' across Punjab

LAHORE: Nine suspects were killed and two police officials were injured in separate encounters involving the Crime Control Department (CCD) in different parts of Punjab on Tuesday, according to police.

In Lahore, six suspects were killed in three separate incidents, while two constables were wounded, a police official said.

According to the official, CCD personnel raided the Sundar area after receiving information that wanted robbers were present there. He said the armed men hiding at the location opened fire on the raiding team, injuring two police personnel. Police returned fire and two suspected robbers were later found dead. The deceased were identified as Alam Sher and Hashim, whom the official said were wanted in more than 60 cases at various police stations in the city.

The injured policemen, Constables Taswar and Namdar, were shifted to a local hospital.

In another incident, the official said Iqbal Town CCD personnel were taking suspects Bilal alias Mota and Danish for the recovery of looted property when their accomplices allegedly attacked the team and opened fire, triggering an exchange. The two suspects in custody were later found dead, which the official claimed happened due to firing by their own accomplices.

A third encounter in Lahore took place in DHA, where, according to the same official, a CCD team had set up a picket and signalled three motorcyclists to stop for identification. He said one of the riders instead pulled out a pistol and fired at police, who escaped unhurt and returned fire. Two suspects were later found dead, while a third escaped in the darkness.

Police said the bodies of all the suspects killed in Lahore had been moved to the city morgue for autopsy and that further investigation was under way.

Sahiwal incident

In Sahiwal, two suspects in police custody were killed in an encounter involving Pakpattan CCD near village 110/9-L on the Sahiwal-Pakpattan Road.

According to police, a CCD patrol team received a call at 2:30am on Tuesday stating that two criminals wanted by Ahmed Yar Police had escaped custody a few hours earlier along with two accomplices on motorcycles. The team was informed that villagers had seen them fleeing near village 112/9-L on Halla Road in Kameer.

Police said the CCD then established a checkpost on the Sahiwal-Pakpattan Road and intercepted the suspects near village 112/9-L at around 3:45am. According to police, the four men abandoned their motorcycles after spotting the police and opened fire from a nearby maize field. After what police described as a 30-minute exchange of fire, the bodies of the two absconders, Nadeem and Allah Ditta, were found, while their two accomplices escaped under the cover of darkness.

Police said two illegal pistols and a motorcycle were recovered from the scene. The bodies were shifted to THQ Hospital Sahiwal for autopsy. Later, Sahiwal CCD registered a case on the complaint of Inspector Waqas Ahmed, and a police team was sent to arrest the two fugitives who escaped.

Faisalabad and Bahawalpur cases

In Faisalabad, an alleged drug dealer was killed late on Monday night in an encounter near Chohala Mor involving a joint CCD team from different circles.

According to CCD sources, officials from Iqbal Town, Lyallpur Town, Madina Division and the CCD police station SHO were present at a picket near Chohala Mor after receiving a tip-off about the movement of criminal elements. The CCD said three suspicious motorcyclists were signalled to stop, but they opened indiscriminate fire, which was returned by police. After several minutes, one of the accused fell to the ground in a critically injured condition, while his two accomplices escaped.

The injured suspect, identified as Farooq, later died. Police said weapons and drugs were recovered from his possession. Police sources claimed he had been involved in drug trafficking and was wanted in several cases of robbery, banditry and other serious offences. They also said he had been accused of killing a citizen who resisted a robbery in the Sargodha Road police station area about five years ago, and later pressured the complainant to make a statement in his favour before evading arrest. After his release, police sources claimed, he entered the drug trade and became part of a dangerous drug network in the city.

In Bahawalpur district, Channigoth Police said they arrested an alleged dacoit in injured condition after an encounter near Ahmedpur East.

According to police sources, acting on a tip-off about the presence of four suspected dacoits near the Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar (KLP), a Channigoth police party raided an area near the water-logging nullah on Sugar Mills Road. Police said the suspects opened indiscriminate fire and the police retaliated. After the firing stopped, one suspect was arrested in injured condition. Police claimed he had been hit by the firing of his own accomplices.

The suspect was identified as Fakhr Abbas alias Fakhri. Police said an illegal pistol was recovered from him and that he was shifted to hospital. Police also identified the three men who escaped in the darkness as Rizwan alias Rajoo, Shehbaz alias Umair Don and Rana Irfan alias Bakar. Separate cases were registered against them and raids were under way to arrest them.