LAHORE: Two men accused in the brutal killing of two brothers over a dispute with fruit vendors in Raiwind were shot dead in what police described as an “encounter” with the Crimes Control Department (CCD), the victims’ lawyer said on Thursday.
The case had sparked outrage after a video widely circulated on social media showed street vendors wielding clubs and repeatedly assaulting the brothers in public. One of the victims died on the spot from severe torture wounds, while the other succumbed to his injuries the following Sunday.
According to Ali Ahmed Awan, the lawyer representing the victims’ father, six suspects were nominated in the case. Three had been arrested, including the main accused.
He said two of those arrested — Owais and Shahzad — were later killed in a police operation. “The CCD claimed they were shot during an encounter after their accomplices attempted to attack the police,” Awan told a local media outlet. The department, he added, is still pursuing the remaining suspects.
Notably, no separate case has yet been filed regarding the alleged police encounter, the lawyer said.
A first information report (FIR) was registered on August 22 at Raiwind City Police Station on the complaint of the victims’ father under Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly) and 302 (murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The FIR stated that the incident occurred on August 21 at around 5:45pm when the brothers, returning home, stopped at a fruit cart.
“Due to a dispute over money, the owner of the fruit cart and his brother began beating my sons and called some other people,” the complainant said in the FIR.
The clash, allegedly sparked by Rs30, quickly escalated into a fatal assault, now under investigation.
