The police here on Sunday gunned down four alleged dacoits in three encounters in different parts of Karachi. According to the details, a police team reached the scene of a robbery and following an exchange of fire, two bandits were killed near Sachal Goth area of Karachi. Their accomplice also suffered bullet wounds but managed to escape from the scene. In the second shootout, the police gunned down a dacoit near Saleem Center in North Karachi while his accomplice fled in a wounded condition. Police said that they were conduction raids to arrest the suspect. In SITE area, a police official was injured during an exchange of fire with bandits near Habib Bank Chowrangi. However, a mugger was killed in the encounter and his accomplice managed to flee. The injured police official was shifted to the hospital for treatment where his condition was said to be out of danger. It is to note that six policemen were arrested in last September on charges of unintentionally killing an innocent citizen and causing injuries to two others in Karachi’s Korangi Industrial Area after mistaking them for robbers a day earlier. Police had initially claimed that the casualties were the result of an ‘encounter’ that took place during a robbery in Mehran Town. They had said a police team reached the scene of a robbery and following an exchange of fire between 6-7 dacoits and police, one person was killed and two others injured.The deceased person was identified as Attaullah, while the injured as Khizar, 35, and Shahzad, 23. However, it later transpired that the deceased and injured were victims of the robbery, which prompted higher authorities to order an inquiry into the incident to ascertain the veracity of their relatives’ claims. Landhi Superintendent of Police ShahnawazChachar, who is conducting the inquiry into the incident, told Dawn that initial probe had revealed that the policemen “were responsible for the regrettable incident”. Last year on December 5, two dacoits had been shot dead in an alleged police encounter in Sukkur. According to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) IrfanSamoo, the encounter had taken place in Bagirji, Kacha area of Sukkur. The dacoits after seeing the patrolling police had opened fire over them and in retaliatory fire, both were shot dead.
