Three suspects linked to a robbery at a restaurant in Lahore’s Lytton Road area were killed during an encounter with the Crime Control Department (CCD). The suspects had been identified after a video showing an armed robbery at the restaurant circulated on social media.

 

The footage showed the suspects entering the restaurant where a family, including women and children, was present at the time.

 

The suspects held restaurant employees at gunpoint and took mobile phones and other belongings from them. During the incident, a young girl fainted. The video clip later went viral, prompting police action.

 

A police official said that the case was handed over to CCD Lahore, which formed separate teams to trace the suspects. The teams arrested all three men from Sahiwal and Narowal, where they had gone into hiding to avoid police raids.

 

The suspects were identified as Naeem, Ashraf and Kabir. The police officer said Naeem, also known as Andheri, had previously been jailed. After his release, he formed a criminal gang.

 

The officer stated that the CCD team was transporting the arrested suspects to Karol Ghati for recovery when the incident occurred. Unknown armed men attacked the police party and opened fire in an attempt to free the arrested suspects.

 

He claimed that during the exchange of fire, the three suspects were killed by shots fired by their own accomplices. 

 

Police later moved the bodies to the city morgue for post-mortem examinations, the officer added.