Two extortionists killed, cop injured in Peshawar encounter

PESHAWAR: One policeman was injured while two most wanted extortionists were killed during an encounter in the Tajabad area in the provincial capital, officials said on Sunday.

Officials said two Afghan nationals, Sherakai and Sherzai, had been wanted by the police in a number of cases of extortion as well as 13 cases of murder, attempted murder and encounters with police. The two were brothers.

“In a daring operation last night, our team from Peshawar Police killed two infamous gangsters. They were involved in several murders, attempted murders and extortions,” Capital City Police Officer Abbas Ahsan told reporters. He was flanked by Senior Superintendent of Police Haroonur Rashid and SP Cantt, Zunair Ahmad Cheema.

He said the proclaimed offenders opened fire on the police party in Nasir Bagh when they conducted a raid. “During the operation, one of our constables suffered a firearm injury to the leg while one station house officer narrowly escaped grievous hurt when he was hit on his bulletproof jacket,” said the Ahsan.

The official said the cops chased the gangsters who fled from Nasir Bagh and then exchanged fire with the police in Tajabad graveyard where both of them were killed. He said that amongst others, the two gangsters had murdered their father and a cousin.

“They were the ones who had also murdered an injured man in the Lady Reading Hospital's Emergency Department,” said Ahsan. The video of the incident was also shown in which a man runs toward an injured person in a hospital’s emergency and opens fire before he escapes.

A number of people in different parts of Peshawar have recently received calls for extortion while a few were also attacked with hand grenades and locally made explosives. The Counter-Terrorism Department and local police are working on the cases of calls for extortion.