A file photo os Sindh Police personnel. PHOTO: AFP
HYDERABAD:
A suspect was killed in an alleged police encounter within the jurisdiction of Tando Yousuf police station. Police claimed the deceased was a notorious drug dealer, while his relatives alleged that he had been taken into custody a few days earlier and was later killed in a staged encounter.
According to police, the encounter took place near Fateh Bagh where Tando Yousuf police exchanged fire with suspected drug peddlers. During the exchange of fire, a notorious narcotics dealer, Lal Bux alias Nano, was killed, while his accomplices managed to escape by taking advantage of the darkness.
A police spokesperson said a pistol and a large quantity of narcotics were recovered from the possession of the deceased. He added that Lal Bux alias Nano was a well-known dealer of crystal meth (crystal ice) and hashish and was involved in more than 14 serious criminal cases, including narcotics trafficking and police encounter cases.
Police shifted the body of the deceased to Civil Hospital Hyderabad for legal formalities. Meanwhile, a large number of relatives and associates of the deceased gathered outside the hospital’s mortuary.
According to police sources, information was received that the deceased’s associates were planning to take the body and place it on a major road to stage a protest. Consequently, police refused to hand over the body until legal formalities were completed and local elders were consulted.
The situation turned tense when the agitated group allegedly entered the mortuary and attempted to forcibly take the body. Police said the protesters resorted to stone-pelting and also opened aerial fire.
As a result of the stone-pelting and firing, the windows of several vehicles, including an ambulance belonging to a welfare organization parked outside the mortuary, were smashed, while one person was injured.
Additional police contingents were called to the scene to control the situation. Police used baton charge and aerial firing to disperse the crowd and arrested six individuals allegedly involved in the unrest.
Meanwhile, the relatives of the deceased alleged that Lal Bux had been arrested by police a few days earlier and was later killed in a fake encounter. Till late at night, the body had not been handed over to the family, and police officials were reluctant to comment further on the controversial encounter.
