7 including 3 cops killed in shootout

Staff Report

LAHORE: Seven people including three policemen were killed in the early hours of Wednesday in a shootout between police and robbers at a village in Aimanabad, some 50 kilometres from here.

According to residents of Adhuray village, local guards were patrolling the area when they spotted six unidentified armed men. The guards asked for their identification. The men opened fire, injuring three young guards.

On hearing the shots, more villagers rushed to the scene and took the injured to hospital, where one of them, Ayaz, was pronounced dead. The assailants escaped and hid in a dera, or guesthouse. Police from Aimanabad and Kamonki police stations and Elite Force personnel reached the scene and surrounded the house where the attackers were hiding. The suspected dacoits opened fire on the police, killing constables Muhammad Shahid, Rana Khalil and Muhammad Ansar. ASI Obaid Ali was injured and is in critical condition. Constable Imtiaz Ahmed was also injured.

Police returned fire and shot dead three robbers, including brothers Riasat and Liaqat and an unidentified man. They managed to arrest another robber, Arif Hussain, at the end of the seven-hour shootout, but two dacoits escaped. Kamonki DSP Syed Wilayat Shah told APP that the dacoits were wanted in several cases in Gujranwala.

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