Robber killed in encounter with police in Pakpattan

PAKPATTAN: A dacoit killed and his accomplice injured in an exchange of fire with police here, ARY News reported on Saturday.

A police volunteer and a passerby were also injured in the shootout.

The dacoits after the crime opened fire when a police team reached to the spot, according to police sources.

A volunteer of police Tariq, and a passerby, Hakim, were injured in the firing. The police party responded to the criminals and the shootout was continued for 20 minutes, police sources said.

During the exchange of fire, a dacoit, which was identified as Asghar Maseeh was killed in the fire of his accomplice, Asghar Maseeh, who was injured and arrested by the policemen, officials said.

Dal Waryam police station has registered the FIR with murder, attempt to murder encounter with police and other serious charges.

Police encounters

The deaths in police encounters seen usually with suspicion due to several incidents of killings which dubbed as criminals encounter with police later found fake after the facts about these incidents came to surface. The recent killing of four persons in Sahiwal has again proved the culture of police encounters in Punjab and other provinces.

A report of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) says, as many as 3,345 people have been killed in police encounters from January 2014 to May 2018.

A public outcry erupted over the recent killings has prompted the government to take the security officials into custody and order an investigation into the Sahiwal incident.

In January last year, a Waziristan youth Naqeebullah Mehsud along with others was killed by police officials in an encounter, which was later termed by a probe as fake.