Two suspects died in Gujranwala district on Saturday after police said their own accomplices opened fire on police teams during recovery trips, the latest Gujranwala accomplices fire deaths in the district this month.
A Gujranwala police spokesman said a suspect identified only as “I” was killed in the Garjakh area when at least three armed accomplices intercepted the police team and opened fire in an attempt to free him. In a second incident, a suspected drug dealer, Tauseef Butt, was killed in the jurisdiction of Saddar Wazirabad police.
Police have registered cases against the attackers and launched investigations. In both cases, police said, the fatal shots came from the suspects’ own accomplices, who then escaped. The incidents were reported by Dawn on November 8.
Gujranwala accomplices fire in Garjakh
The first suspect had been arrested in a case involving the alleged repeated rape of his 14-year-old daughter, which police said had continued for at least a year. He was being taken to a place for recovery when the attack took place.
According to the police spokesman, at least three armed men intercepted the team and opened fire to secure his release from custody. The suspect was killed by firing allegedly carried out by his own accomplices, while the other assailants managed their escape.
The second death took place within the jurisdiction of Saddar Wazirabad police. Tauseef Butt, whom police described as a notorious drug dealer, was also killed allegedly by the firing of his own accomplices.
Police have not said whether any officers were hurt in either incident, or whether any of the attackers have been identified.
A pattern of similar deaths in the district
The two deaths follow a run of near-identical incidents in Gujranwala district over the past eight days, all described by police in the same terms.
On October 31, Sarfraz Meher, the suspect in the murder of a bride on her walima day, was killed allegedly by his own accomplices during an encounter with the Crime Control Department on Mado Khail Road. On November 1, a suspect named Junaid, arrested over the alleged rape of a six-year-old girl in Sohdra, was killed in Wazirabad after armed motorcyclists intercepted a police team.
Sajjad Hussain, arrested for stabbing a 12-year-old boy in a motorbike snatching on October 30, was shot dead during a recovery trip in Gujranwala, again, police said, by his own accomplices. A suspected drug dealer, Khalid Mehmood, died the same way in the Saddar area of Wazirabad.
With the two deaths on Saturday, six suspects have now died this way in Gujranwala district in eight days. In each case, police said armed accomplices attacked a police team to free a suspect, and the suspect died from the accomplices’ own firing while the attackers escaped.
The repeated use of the same account has drawn attention to how these deaths are reported. Police present each incident as an attempted rescue by accomplices. No independent account of any of the incidents has been published, and no inquiry findings have been made public.
Questions the cases raise
The pattern matters because each death closes a criminal case without a trial. The suspect in the Garjakh case will now never face a court, and the same applies to the bride murder suspect and the suspects in the child cases.
Punjab police have faced wider scrutiny over encounter deaths this year. Police data shows that 197 suspects were killed in alleged encounters in Karachi in the first ten months of 2026, an 80 per cent rise on last year.
Accountability is rarely visible in these cases. In Karachi, a station house officer was suspended after an audio clip surfaced in which he was allegedly heard apologising to a known drug dealer. A joint investigation team is probing a court clash in Kotri, and the Supreme Court acquitted two siblings this week after 20 years.
For the families of victims, the deaths end any chance of a trial. The investigations now under way must explain how armed groups repeatedly reached suspects in custody, and why the suspects, rather than the attackers, keep dying.
Frequently asked questions
What happened in Gujranwala on Saturday?
Two suspects died in separate incidents. In Garjakh, a suspect in a case involving his 14-year-old daughter was killed when armed accomplices attacked the police team taking him for a recovery. In Saddar Wazirabad, a suspected drug dealer, Tauseef Butt, died the same way.
Who does police say fired the fatal shots?
In both cases, police said the fatal shots were fired by the suspects’ own accomplices, who had opened fire to free them from custody. The attackers escaped in both incidents.
How many such deaths have there been in Gujranwala this month?
Six in eight days. Similar deaths were reported on November 1, November 2 and November 4, all described by police as firing by the suspects’ own accomplices during recovery trips or encounters.
What happens next?
Police have registered cases against the attackers and launched investigations. No arrests of the attackers have been reported, and no inquiry findings have been made public.
