The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on late Saturday night killed Shahbaz Taseer’s alleged kidnapper and five other suspected militants in an encounter near Sheikhupura.
According to a CTD spokesperson, that they had received information about nine to 10 members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) being present in Sheikhupura, planning an attack on the offices of law enforcement agencies.
At around 12:30am, the CTD team raided a house near the Sheikhupura Bypass. The terrorists tried to flee as they noticed the presence of armed forces.
The CTD team chased them up to a branch road where the suspects opened fire at the cops, said the spokesperson.
The security personnel retaliated and killed six of the terrorists while the rest had fled.
The CTD men seized arms and ammunition, including three Kalashnikov rifles, three pistols, 2kg of explosives, prima cords and a cache of bullets. Separately, the police launched a combing operation in the area to arrest the escaped suspects.
A senior police official told that the CTD’s investigation team had identified one of the deceased as Haji Muhammad alias Pathan, who was accused of being involved in the abduction of Shahbaz Taseer, son of the late governor Salman Taseer.
The official said that Pathan belonged to two banned organisations — TTP and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Shahbaz Taseer was kidnapped near his company’s head office in Gulberg on Aug 26, 2011 and recovered earlier this year.
