August 23, 2025
By Aitzaz Ibrahim
LAHORE
The Crime Control Department (CCD) of Punjab Police, a specialized wing established to tackle heinous and organized crimes, has increasingly come under the spotlight due to a surge in alleged police encounters.
Between May 1 and August 23, 2025, 14 suspects accused of rape and gang rape were killed in alleged encounters with CCD personnel. In every case, the department has maintained that the fatalities occurred due to gunfire from the suspects’ own accomplices. The figures were compiled from news reports published in the English-language daily Dawn.
Media reports circulating across electronic and print platforms have further claimed that in the past four months, CCD personnel were involved in 815 alleged encounters across the province, in which 480 suspects were killed and 335 injured.
However, CCD spokesperson Abdul Wahid, while speaking to Voicepk, denied these figures. He said that the department does not compile or release consolidated data on such encounters.
On other hand, official statistics published on the Punjab Police website show that between January 1 and June 30, 2025, a total of 804 police encounters took place across Punjab, resulting in 364 suspects killed and nine police personnel also losing their lives.
Speaking on Voicepk’s program Rights Watch, former Punjab Inspector General of Police, Chaudhry Yaqub, shed light on the Crime Control Department (CCD).
“Within the police force there are two prevailing opinions about the CCD: one is that the department is unconstitutional and that the police have no authority to kill an accused in an encounter; the other view is that when crime rates rise, police tend to resort to encounters as a response,” he said. “The police arrest suspects, but their cases often remain stuck in courts for years. In many instances, due to lack of evidence or unwillingness of witnesses to come forward, the accused are acquitted. To avoid this lengthy judicial process, encounters are often carried out.”
Chaudhry Yaqub pointed out, “Under Pakistani law, every police encounter resulting in a death must undergo a judicial inquiry. However, in the case of the CCD, it seems this legal process has also come to a standstill.”
Recent key incidents
In recent incidents, several suspects allegedly involved in rape, gang rape, and cases of harassment against women were either killed or seriously injured in encounters with the Crime Control Department (CCD).
On August 21, in Bahawalpur’s Baghdadul Jadid area, an alleged rapist of a minor girl was killed in what police described as an encounter. According to officials, the accused, Hamza, had escaped from custody on August 17. Acting on a tip-off about his whereabouts, police conducted a raid where Hamza was present along with an accomplice. The suspects opened fire to resist arrest, prompting retaliatory fire from the police. During the exchange, Hamza was reportedly hit by bullets fired by his own accomplice and died on the spot, while the other suspect managed to escape.
On August 16, A suspect allegedly involved in the rape of several girls was killed during a police encounter with the Crime Control Department (CCD) near Pull Khanpur, Mailsi, Vehari district. According to CCD officials, two unidentified suspects opened fire on a patrolling team, leading to an exchange of fire. When the firing stopped, one suspect, identified as Tanveer , was found injured. Rescue 1122 later declared him dead at the scene. Police said Tanveer was shot by his own accomplice, who escaped under the cover of darkness.
On August 12, in Lahore’s Ghaziabad area, suspect Firasat Ali, accused of harrasing and snatching earrings from an elderly woman, was killed along with an associate named John Shah during an alleged exchange of fire with CCD personnel in the Manawan area. Police stated that CCD officials were on their way to arrest wanted suspects when two motorcycle riders opened fire on them, prompting a retaliatory exchange in which both suspects were killed. According to police, Firasat Ali had been involved in an incident days earlier where he forcibly removed earrings from the ears of an elderly woman, an act captured on CCTV and widely shared on social media.
On the same day in Faisalabad, another alleged encounter took place on Satyana Road. A suspect accused of sexually assaulting children and recording videos to blackmail them was killed. Police said the suspect had been arrested earlier and was being taken for recovery of evidence when his associates allegedly opened fire in an attempt to free him. In the exchange, the suspect was fatally shot while his accomplices fled. According to the CCD, the man had sexually assaulted children at gunpoint and produced around 20 explicit videos to extort them. Officials claimed the fatal shot came from the suspect’s own associates.
On August 9 in Lahore, two men accused of gang-raping a 13-year-old girl—the daughter of a lady doctor—were killed during what police described as an exchange of fire with CCD personnel. The department said the men, identified as Shoaib and Zubair, had abducted the girl from Manga Mandi two days earlier. According to police, when CCD officers moved in to arrest them, the suspects allegedly opened fire. Police stated they returned fire in defence, during which the suspects were struck by bullets fired by their own accomplices.
Earlier, on August 6, in Lahore’s Chuhng area, a suspect named Imran, accused in the gang rape of a woman in front of her husband, was reportedly injured by his own gunfire during an encounter with the CCD in Kasur. Police said he later died of his injuries. Three other suspects in the same case—Owais, Zahid, and Irshad—had previously been killed in separate CCD operations.
On July 30 in Multan, CCD personnel arrested a suspect accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a minor girl in a street, after a video of the incident went viral. Police claimed they acted on a tip-off and raided a location where the suspect was present. According to the CCD, during the arrest attempt, the suspect fired a shot that struck himself after he hurriedly drew a pistol from his waistband.
A similar case occurred on July 28 in Kasur, where a man accused of inappropriate contact with a girl was taken into custody after a video of the incident circulated online. CCD said the suspect sustained injuries to sensitive areas after accidentally shooting himself during the arrest.
In June, three men accused of gang-raping a woman in Hafizabad in front of her husband were killed in separate operations. In each case, police said the suspects were struck by bullets fired by their own associates during alleged shootouts with CCD personnel.
Official narrative
In most of these incidents, CCD’s official position has been that the suspects either died due to fire from their own accomplices or accidentally shot themselves while resisting arrest. Police have maintained that CCD personnel acted in accordance with the law, and that lethal force was used only in response to armed resistance.