Seven ‘unidentified criminals’ gunned down in encounters

Karachi
Seven criminals, including alleged gangsters and terrorists, were killed in shootouts with the police in different areas of the city.
The ‘encounters’ began late Monday night after the death of two police constables when three armed gunmen ambushed a check post within the remit of Lea Market police station earlier in the day.
Interestingly, not one of the alleged criminals who were killed in these encounters could be identified by the police authorities.
The Quaidabad police gunned down an alleged criminal in Swati Mohalla of Sherpao Colony when he refused to stop after he was signalled by personnel conducting snap checking.
According to the Quaidabad police, a contingent was busy in snap checking in the area when it noticed two ‘suspicious men’ riding a motorcycle and signalled them to halt for checking.
However, they claimed, instead of cooperating with the law enforcers the men opened fire on the police and tried to flee. The police personnel returned fire which resulted in the death of one of the suspects while the other escaped.
Police said the deceased appeared to be about 30 years old and a pistol and stolen valuables were found in his possession.
Earlier, in the wee hours of Tuesday, three armed gangsters were killed in two separate encounters in Kalakot and Kharadar areas of Lyari.
In the first incident, the personnel of Kalakot and Napier police raided a gangsters’ hideout near Kashti Chowk in Kalakot area. A shootout between both parties ensued in which two armed gangsters were shot dead.
Kalakot SHO Azam Khan said both suspects appeared to be between 20 and 25 years old. He said the police party also found several weapons, hand grenades and ammunition from the hideout and a search was under way for those who had escaped.
A few hours later, the Kharadar police also claimed to have killed an armed but unidentified gangster in an ‘encounter’ in Katchi Gali No 3.
Kharadar SHO Rana Khushi Muhammad said the police personnel were on high alert and had been patrolling the area after the attack on police picket in Lea Market on Monday night when it spotted two suspicious men and signalled them to stop.
However, when the men tried to escape under the cover of fire, the police retaliated and ended up killing one of suspects while the other managed to flee.
Meanwhile, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Sindh Police also claimed to have killed two ‘militants’ in an encounter near Toori Bangash Chowk of Orangi Town.
An official of the CTD said the officials had received information about the presence of that militants affiliated with the Khan Zaman Mehsud gang in the area. Subsequently, they raided the hideout situated near the Toori Bangash Chowk and the suspects indulged in a shootout with the law enforcers.
Two militants of the Khan Zaman Mehsud gang were killed in retaliatory firing by the CTD personnel while other accomplices escaped.
The official said police found heavy weapons, explosives, a motorcycle-borne improvised explosive device and live ammunition from the militants’ hideout. He said the deceased militants appeared to be in their 30s but said they could not be identified.
Moreover, an unidentified armed man who had been injured in a purported encounter with the police in Khuda Ki Basti area of Surjani Town, died during treatment at a hospital.
The Surjani police claimed that the armed man was injured during a shootout and was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment where he succumbed to injuries.