Karachi police officer slain in shootout with fleeing dacoits

KARACHI: A police officer was martyred on Friday during a shootout with four dacoits fleeing in a car, Senior Superintendent of Police East Sajid Suddozai has confirmed.

"The martyred officer has been identified as Sub Inspector Rahim Khan. He was deployed as an additional Station House Officer in Gulistan-e-Johar," said the SSP.

According to details of the incident, Johar Police had received information of a suspected gang of fleeing dacoits from Ferozabad Police. 

Johar Police were told the suspects had fled after an 'encounter' with Ferozabad police and the windows of their car had also been shattered during an exchange of fire.

SSP Suddozai said Khan and his team had tried stopping the fleeing car when it entered their jurisdiction. However, the suspects ignored warnings, did not stop and instead fired on the police personnel.

Khan and his team then gave chase in their car, but the suspects fired on their vehicle, martyring Khan.

Initial investigations suggest that the sub-inspector was martyred by bullets fired from a submachine gun.

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Police officials also said that the four suspects had been injured as they fled, and that they have identified the owner of one of the cars the suspects left behind.

"The owner of the car has been identified as Junaid Buland, who is a resident of Mirpurkhas," said the officials.

The police also believe that a man in a police uniform was present in the fleeing car.

CCTV of incident emerges

Meanwhile, a CCTV footage of the incident shows the police and fleeing car involved in the encounter. It shows that a police officer falls from his vehicle when suspects fire at the police mobile.

The video also shows the police mobile crashing into a nearby pole after being fired upon by the suspects.