TAXILA: An alleged car lifter wanted in 29 different carjacking cases across various cities was arrested in injured condition after a shootout with the police in Fatehjang during the early hours of Tuesday, a police spokesperson said.

He claimed that the suspect was injured by his own accomplices during an exchange of fire.

Soon after the incident, senior police officers rushed to the crime scene and shifted the injured suspect to a hospital for medical treatment. Circumstantial evidence was collected from the crime scene and a case was registered on behalf of the state, he added.

The police spokesman said that a citizen alerted the police stating that unidentified snatchers had snatched his car from the limits of the Bhattar police station.

A police party spotted the car within the Fatehjang police station limits and tried to intercept it. However, occupants of the car opened indiscriminate firing at the police party, the spokesperson said. The police retaliated and arrested a suspect later identified as Amir Shahzad.

Moreover, on Tuesday, the police reported that armed bandits looted the house of a woman by taking her son hostage at gunpoint in the Hussainabad area within the limits of the Taxila police station.

Nazia Azmat, the complainant, reported to police that she was home with her son when two masked men entered the house forcefully and took her son hostage at gunpoint. The armed bandits searched the house and fled with looted booty including cash, valuables, a pistol and a motorcycle. Police registered a case and launched a manhunt to trace the suspects.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2025