rawalpindi    -    A brazen gun-battle broke out late Thursday between two groups in Dhoke Kala Khan left four people dead and wounded seven others, the latest in a series of public crimes that have rattled the residents of the city.

The firefight that began just before midnight sent residents of Farooq e Azam Road, Dhoke Kala Kahan, Kashmiri Mohala, and suburbs fleeing indoors and cowering in their apartments as intense, sustained automatic weapons fire echoed around the area.

Videos of intense firing shared on social media with showing police, including Elite Force standing at a distance  from the battlefield and doing nothing to maintain law and order situation the most volatile Sadiqabad area. The gun-battle took place within limits of Police Station (PS) Sadiqabad. The dead bodies and maimed persons were rushed to Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) for post-mortem and medical treatment. Heart moving scenes could be witnessed in the Emergency Department of the Hospital as attendants of the victims were mourning their deaths.

Doctors faced a lot of difficulties in providing medical treatment to the injured due to the mess of relatives of victims and personnel of law enforcement agencies.

According to Rescue 1122, the deceased have been identified as Hamza (22), Zeeshan (29), Abdullah (18), and the name of another deceased could not be shared.

M Rasheed, Haider Ali, M Jahangir, Mustafa, Hassan, Nasir and Shahzaib were among wounded persons, who are under treatment in BBH.

In the First Information Report (FIR), registered with PS Sadiqabad, the complaint Zahid Mehmood alleged he, along with others, were present at home when heard the sound of firing and invectives in the street.

He said he and others came out to know what is going outside when they saw Chaudhry Yasir, Chaudhry Nasir, Chaudhry Amir, and Others equipped with weapons, who opened fire on them. Hearing the sounds of gunshots, he said, his other relatives also came out from their houses and were targeted by the attackers. He said three persons were killed on the spot and seven others were injured. He told police the criminals fled from the scene after committing the crime. The reason behind the attack was court litigation over an attempted murder case between the attackers and us, he said. Police lodged the case and begun an investigation. 

Meanwhile, CPO Faisal Rana took notice of the incident in limits of PS Sadiqabad and issued show cause notices to SHO and SDPO and also summoned the SP Rawal Asif Masood in his office. According to spokesman To CPO, the special team constituted for the arrest of the accused, issues directions to take into custody all those who violated the law within 48 hours.

During the briefing, SP told CPO that the incident of shooting between the two rival groups was the outcome of old enmity, which caused deaths and injuries on both ends.

The CPO inquired about how dare the rival groups to fire publicly and where was the police of the concerning police station when the shooting took place. The CPO directed SSP Investigations Muhammad Faisal to hold an inquiry into the matter and told that the police personnel proven negligent in the investigation would have to face stern departmental action.

 

 

 

 

 

 The CPO directed Rawalpindi Police to exercise strict snap checking so that no person, group, or gang could display arms. The CPO directed to take legal action against all the persons, groups or gangs involved in the shooting incident and told that everyone who violated the law in the conflict must be taken into custody within the next 48 hours. The CPO warned that in case of the non-arrest of the culprits, the SHO and supervisory and monitoring officers would be directly answerable.

Separately, SSP Investigation Faisal Kamran claimed Police held two killers and seized weapons from them. He said police also began process to put the names of 19 accused in ECL to thwart their attempts to flee the country.

Relatives block Islamabad highway, causing several-hours long traffic snarl

In the evening, the heirs of deceased poured on Islamabad Express at Dhoke Kala Khan Interchange and staged protest demo against Punjab Police. They placed the dead bodies in the middle of road and blocked Islamabad Expressway and Faizabad Interchange for vehicular movement. They also chanted slogans against Police and demanded immediate arrest of accused.

Mess of protesters on twin city’s main artery triggered massive traffic jam in Koral, Khanna, Shakrial, DHA, Behria Town, T Chowk, Murree Road, Old Murree Road, IJP Road, Pirwadhai Road, Tarnool, Peshawar Road, Katcheri, GT Road and many other parts of federal capital posing hardships for commuters and the people.