Anti-terrorism forces in Punjab have killed chief of a banned sectarian group and three others, who were blamed for series of attacks on the law enforcement agencies as well sectarian attacks, officials said on Wednesday. Rizwan alias Asif Chotu, chief of the banned sectarian "Lashkar-e-Jhangvi" (LeJ) and three members of the group were killed in a clash with the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) near Sheikhupura, a spokesman for the CTD said.
LeJ was involved in recent attacks in Balochistan province on a crowded shrine that killed dozens of people. Security officials believe that the group now co-ordinates with Daesh to carry out attacks.
The CTD spokesman said in a statement that Chotu was wanted to the authorities in over 100 murder cases and that the government had announced a head money of three million rupees.
He said the terrorists were planning an attack on staff and offices of a security agency in Lahore. "They were heading to Lahore for the terrorist attack from Sheikhupura when the CTD force encountered them."
"On a tip-off, the CTD team blockaded the Railway crossing late on Tuesday. The team asked the terrorists to surrender, but they fled and later took positions and started firing indiscriminately on the police party chasing them. The police responded and found four terrorists dead while three terrorists succeeded in fleeing from the scene," the official said.
The CTD members also recovered two Kalashnikovs, two pistols, three kg explosives, and bullets.
Chotu, was appointed the LeJ chief, after his predecessor Malik Ishaq, was killed in Punjab in July, 2015, along with two sons and nine other militants after they tried to flee from the police custody.
He was released from in 2012 after seven years of imprisonment. He later went underground and organised many attacks on the law enforcement agencies and Shiite Muslims.
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