Two cops hurt in shootout with robbers

Two policemen were injured in a shootout with robbers in Gulshan-e-Maymar’s Essa Goth area on Tuesday, said SITE Super Highway police. The cops were identified as constables Abid Ali Bakhsh and Tariq Qadir.

Police said four cops on two motorbikes were patrolling the locality in view of increasing mugging incidents with people coming from New Sabzi Mandi on Super Highway. When the law enforcers tried to stop four suspects on two motorcycles, the latter opened fire on the former, they added.

The police retaliated, but the suspects managed to escape, two of whom abandoned their two-wheeler and fled on foot. However, when the law enforcers continued to give chase, the suspects fired more shots and injured two of the cops.

The injured constables were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, from where they were later moved to a private hospital on National Stadium Road.

Police said Bakhsh was in critical condition, as he was shot in the head and in the shoulder, while Qadir’s condition was out of danger, as he had suffered one bullet to the upper torso. Both the cops are cousins and they reside in the Memon Goth area, they added.

They said the motorcycle abandoned by the suspects had been snatched at gunpoint from the Jamshed Quarters area on April 3, adding that they are trying to hunt down the four robbers.

Fire destroys warehouse

A scrap warehouse was gutted in a fire in the SITE area on Tuesday.

The fire broke out in the warehouse in Azizabad’s Zia Colony on the night between Monday and Tuesday. Reacting to information, one fire tender was dispatched to the property and later three more fire tenders arrived to extinguish the fire.

According to a fire brigade spokesperson, three water tankers also joined in the battle that lasted two hours. No loss of life was reported.

The owner of the warehouse, Jan aka Janu, suspected that the blaze broke out apparently due to the fireworks let off by people attending a wedding ceremony in the area.

Police officials reached the scene and inquired about the incident. They said the actual cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.