TAXILA: A criminal wanted in over 20 cases, including drug trafficking, murder, attempted murder, and burglary, was killed allegedly during a botched fleeing attempt by his accomplices, followed by a `shootout` with police near Burhan within the limits of Hassanabdal Saddar Police Station during the early hours of Saturday, police spokesman said.

Soon after the incident, senior police officers also rushed to the scene. A case was registered in the name of the state. The police spokesperson stated that the under-custody accused Naseer Ahmed-native of Bhallar Jogi-who was being transported back to the police station afterrecovery proceedings, was ambushed by two unidentified armed men who opened indiscriminate fire on the police vehicle.

He revealed that theattackers successfully freed the accused from custody and fled the scene. Upon reinforcement and pursuit by police, the suspects again opened fire on the chasing team.

The official vehicle sustained bullet hits, and Constable Baqir Ali was also struck in the chest.

Fortunately, he survived unscathed due to his bulletproof vest. As the firing ceased, a search was conducted using flashlights.

A body was found lying face down, later identified as Naseer Ahmed, the escaped accused. It was established that he had been fatally wounded by the gunfire of his accomplices during the escape attempt.

Later, the body was shifted to the tehsil headquarters hospital for an postmortem, and police launched a search to arrest his two companions who successfully fled the scene. Correspondent