KARACHI, July 11: In a blatant act of extra-judicial killing, the police gunned down a suspected robber in a broad daylight near the DJ Government Science College on Tuesday, eyewitnesses said.

Witnesses at the spot maintained that a police van was carrying the suspect. When it sopped, police officials dragged him out of the van, and fired shots into the air. All people around the spot and those waiting for public transport some 400-500 yards away were alerted by the sound of firing and they looked towards the scene.

They narrated that a police van stopped near the DJ College roundabout and policemen in it dragged the suspect out of the van. One of the officials loaded his rifle and fired shots into the air. Later, the other official shot the suspect in his thighs and chest. They put the suspect into the van and drove away.

A girl student, waiting for a bus, said: “It all happened very quickly”, and she was in shock for a few minutes. Trembling with fear, she said: “Witnessing the killing of a human is horrible.”

Another witness, who requested anonymity, narrated an identical story and said: “A man, carried by the mobile van, was shot dead in front of me callously.”

However, the police disputed the witnesses’ claim and asserted that two suspects on a motorcycle were signalled to stop on I.I. Chundrigar Road, instead they sped away. The police chased them. As they reached the DJ Science College roundabout, they opened fire at the police. The police returned fire and one of the suspects suffered bullet wounds. Their motorcycle also skidded and one of the suspects ran away leaving behind his injured accomplice and the motorbike.

The SHO of Arambagh, Jahanzeb, said: “We shifted the injured suspect to the Civil Hospital, where he died. The suspect was identified as Mazhar Iqbal. We recovered the motorbike and a pistol. We also found a paper slip in the pocket of the dead in which the names of many police stations were written.”

He said that the mentioned police stations were contacted and it was discovered that more than 12 cases were registered against the suspect for his involvement in robberies, attacking the police, murders, and other heinous crimes.

Saddar Town police officer SSP Sanaullah Abbasi said the suspect killed in the encounter had a criminal record. However, he said: “I have nominated the ASP of Kharadar as inquiry officer to probe the incident as we usually constitute inquiry into every police encounter as per the police rules.”

ROBBERS HELD: Police on Tuesday arrested six suspected robbers after two separate encounters and seized the looted valuables and weapons from them, PPI adds.