Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) chief Asif Chotu, who was on the list of Pakistan’s most wanted terrorists with a bounty of Rs. 30,00,000 on his head, has been killed along with his three associates, police said on Wednesday.

“Four terrorists, including the chief of [the] banned [group] LeJ, were killed by the Counter-Terrorism Department in an encounter last night near Sheikhupura, about 40 km northwest of Lahore,” a CTD spokesperson was quoted as saying by the Geo TV. The killing comes 18 months after police executed Chotu’s predecessor Malik Ishaq in an encounter in July 2015.

Preparing for attack

According to the CTD, the LeJ had been preparing to launch an attack in Lahore and were moving towards Sheikhupura when the CTD, after receiving a tip-off, blocked them and asked them to surrender.

Later, in response to indiscriminate firing by the terrorists, the CTD had to respond, shooting four of them dead. Three terrorists fled the scene.

Weaponds, including two Kalashnikovs and two pistols, and explosives were recovered from the terrorists.

Chotu had been involved in killing over 100 citizens in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. — PTI