Police 'lay open' criminal record of 5 alleged dacoits killed in Gizri encounter

KARACHI: Police have claimed to lay open the criminal record of the five dacoits that were killed last night in an alleged shootout in the Defence area, ARY News reported on Friday.

There have been at least six charges on the killed gang of dacoits that have been at large since long, police said today.

Police said that when the location of these gang members was traced via their phones which they have been monitoring for the past seven days, the police party dispatched in their pursuit.

The phone number of Ghulam Mustafa had switched on three days back and ever since the police have been trying to zero in on him which they finally did last night near Gizri, Defence. However, upon seeing police on their chase, the now-deceased robbers broke into a bungalow garage.

In the details of the alleged encounter last night which claimed the lives of five people whom police claimed were all notorious and habitual dacoits, police shared that they hid inside a water tank beside the bungalow and when police inched near them they opened fire.

In response to their 15 bullets fired at the police personnel, police said they returned fire with 25 bullets resulting in the death of all gang members.

All of the killed suspects have been identified, police claimed, saying their criminal records have been corroborated.

Ghulam Mustafa was the leader of the gang, which comes from South region of Punjab, and police have been tracing him for many days now, police said and added that his number was finally traced yesterday and thus the police party went to the location to apprehend him.

In their last robbery bid the police had set up geo fencing of the radius and collected the numbers of suspects. The numbers had been switched off, the police said, but yesterday when Ghulam Mustafa turned on his number, his location was traced.

We have the call data of Ghulam Mustafa, accomplice Abbas, and all other suspects, Police said. They would run away to Southern Punjab region after their robberies.

READ: Police share details of Karachi encounter as house owner terms it ‘fake’

It is pertinent to note that earlier on Friday, the owner of the Gizri house wherein the scene eventuated, Ali Hasnain, who claimed to be a senior lawyer of the Sindh High Court (SHC), however, rejected the police version and said that the cops barged into his house at 4:00 am on Friday and took his mother and other guests as a hostage.

“The police took Abbas and my vehicle with them and pictures circulated on Chippa portal claimed that he was killed during a police encounter,” he said while blaming the police for killing his driver in a fake encounter.

“I am a senior lawyer of the Sindh High Court and am currently present in Islamabad along with my wife,” he said adding that he was not aware regarding the identity of the four other people killed during the alleged police encounter.