'Dacoits' killed in Karachi shootout involved in various cases: police

KARACHI: Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Javed Akbar Riaz has said that men killed in Karachi shootout were members of an inter-provincial dacoits’ gang and its head was also killed in the police action today, ARY News reported on Friday.

The men killed in a shootout took place in Karachi’s DHA Phase IV turned out to be the members of a most-wanted Seraiki dacoits’ gang, according to DIG South. He said that the deceased dacoits were involved in various cases of robberies and other crimes.

The dacoits’ gang had carried out robberies in Defence, Clifton and other areas of the metropolis.

Javed Akbar Riaz said that three of the five ‘dacoits’ had been arrested earlier by South Zone police officials and they organised their gang again after being released from the jail. He added that police officials received some reports of their presence 10 days ago.

Riaz said that the local police was informed when the men broke into a house for robbery and later they opened fire on the police team rushed to the crime scene. The five ‘dacoits’ were killed in response by the police team, he added.

He detailed that the alleged criminals were running a Seraiki gang that had robbed the house of a government officer in 2019.

The police officer revealed that three gangs are activated in Karachi’s Defence area. A gang used to arrive in Karachi from Afghanistan for carrying out a major robbery, whereas, other gangs including Seraiki and KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] have also carried out robberies in the bungalows.

The DIG South said that the police investigators are also checking the criminal records of the accused men in Punjab as well.

The police department grabbed the location of the alleged criminals from Malir Gadap last night while they turned off their mobile phones before carrying out the robbery in the DHA house. He said that more than Rs30 million was looted in house robberies during the 10 days in the surroundings of Defence.

Earlier in the day, Karachi police claimed to have killed five ‘dacoits’ in an alleged gun battle in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase IV.

Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) South Zubair Nazir said that five alleged dacoits have been killed in a police shootout in Karachi’s DHA Phase IV. They broke into a house for dacoity and took all residents hostage.

The dacoits opened fire on the police party and in response fire, all of the alleged criminals were killed, said Zubair Nazir. He said that police authorities are checking the criminal records of the deceased dacoits and their dead bodies have been shifted to Jinnah Hospital.

Police said that three of the dacoits have been identified as Ghulam Mustafa, Abid and Riaz. The alleged dacoits reached the bungalow in a double-cabin vehicle. The police team also recovered the vehicle and weapons from the crime scene.

Police investigators found criminal records of the Abid and Ghulam Mustafa as they were wanted in different cases. Abid and Ghulam Mustafa were reportedly belonging to Bahawalpur, whereas, Riaz was belonging to Multan, added police.