Four suspects killed in two police 'encounters' in Karachi

KARACHI: Four suspects were killed in two separate police encounters in Karachi on Thursday, according to police officials.

In one incident, the Anti-Vehicle Lifting Cell said two alleged members of an inter-provincial car theft gang were shot dead near Sohrab Goth. An AVLC spokesperson said police and the suspects exchanged fire near Indus Plaza, where Farman Illahi alias Mani and Kashif Altaf alias Kashu were killed.

The spokesperson said police recovered two pistols, cash and a car that had been stolen from the Ferozabad police limits. According to the AVLC, the two men were part of a gang involved in stealing vehicles in Karachi and transporting them for sale in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The AVLC spokesperson added that one of the suspects was wanted in more than two dozen criminal cases in Punjab. The cell said Mani had previously been arrested three times, most recently in 2024, while Kashif, who belonged to Lahore, had been involved in 22 criminal cases in Punjab since 2015.

In a separate incident in the New Karachi area, two suspected robbers were killed during what police described as an encounter with Shaheen Force personnel. New Karachi Industrial Area SHO Zahid Lodhi said the exchange of fire took place in Sector 11-F near Noorani Graveyard, where the two suspects, later identified as Shahzaib and Abdul Jabbar, were killed.

A spokesperson for Central police said CCTV footage of the incident showed women, children and elderly people present nearby, but maintained that Shaheen Force personnel acted with caution during the operation.

Meanwhile, Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar praised the performance of law enforcement personnel involved in both incidents.