KARACHI, 18 May 2005 — A police raid on the hide-out of one of country’s most wanted criminals yesterday left six people dead and 20 wounded in an intense gunbattle but police failed to capture the fugitive.
One policeman was among the dead and 13 officers were injured in the shootout that also killed two civilians, three other suspects and wounded seven more in the crossfire, police chief Tariq Jamil told AFP.
The gunfight erupted in the Hub area, just outside of Karachi on the border with Balochistan province when police raided the hide-out of Rehman Baluch also known as Rehman Dacoit, Karachi’s most wanted criminal, he said.
“Six people are confirmed dead, including sub-inspector Arshad Butt,” Jamil said. Police detained several suspects, some of them injured, and recovered weapons in the search. However, it was not known whether Rehman was unhurt. “He may have escaped to Balochistan,” Jamil said.
Rehman is wanted in relation to more than 150 criminal cases, including the murders of dozens of civilians and police.
The provincial Sindh government has announced a three million rupee ($50,000) reward for information leading to his capture, dead or alive. Rehman has been on the run since he fled a court building three years ago. Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and commercial capital, has a history of gang warfare and political, ethnic and sectarian violence that has claimed more than 4,000 lives in the past five years.
