Notorious gangster Khawaja Tareef Butt alias Teefi Butt was killed in an alleged shootout with police in the early hours of Saturday in Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan district.
Police sources earlier claimed that Teefi Butt had initially fled to Glasgow, UK soon after the murder of Ameer Balaj Tipu. During the course of the investigation, police arrested Ameer Balaj’s close friend Ahsan Shah for giving information to Butt and his gangsters about his friend’s movements.
More recently, Teefi Butt traveled to Dubai to renew his London visa after it expired, which ultimately led to his capture.
The CCD had also formally requested the Lahore Capital Police Officer (CCPO) to transfer the investigation of the Ameer Balaj murder case to them. The case was originally registered at Chuhng police station.
Ameer Balaj was murdered during a marriage ceremony in February 2024. Teefi Butt and Aqeel Butt alias Gogi Butt were nominated in the case. Gogi Butt is currently out on bail and Teefi Butt was declared absconding.
A CCD statement today claimed that Teefi Butt, who had been arrested earlier in Dubai with the help of Interpol, had landed at Karachi airport a day earlier and was handed over to the custody of the CCD, which was to transport him to Lahore by road.
“When the CCD team reached near Sanjarpur, Rahim Yar Khan district, in the early hours of October 11, several armed assailants intercepted the CCD vehicle and opened indiscriminate fire,” the statement said.
During the shooting, a CCD officer suffered serious gunshot wounds and was rushed to a nearby hospital. The suspects allegedly released Teefi Butt and fled the scene. Local police and CCD officers were notified immediately, according to the release.
“Around [5am]Rahim Yar Khan’s CCD team detected two suspicious vehicles and attempted to intercept them. An intense exchange of fire took place between the CCD team and the attackers, which lasted between 20 and 25 minutes,” the statement added.
“One person was found seriously injured at the scene. [and] He succumbed to his injuries while the CCD team evacuated him to a local hospital. Later, he was identified as Khawaja Tareef Butt alias Teefi Butt.”
The statement added that another police officer suffered serious injuries during the shooting and was taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.
“Multiple teams from both the local police and Rahim Yar Khan CCD are actively pursuing those involved in the attack, injuring two police officers and the murder of Khawaja Tareef Butt alias Teefi Butt,” the statement read, adding that further investigations are underway.
old rivalry
The families of Tipu and the Butts have a decades-long rivalry in alleged underworld circles in Lahore. They were leading 20 ‘gangsters’ from the city when the Lahore police launched an offensive in 2021 under then CCPO Ghulam Mahmood Dogar.
Gogi Butt was previously arrested on anti-terrorism charges.
Ameer Balaj’s grandfather Ameeruddin alias Billa Truckanwala was also involved in the dispute and had been a victim of the feud in 1998. Ameer Balaj’s father Arif Ameer alias Tipu Truckanwala was shot dead by his rivals in 2010 and was the third generation to be a victim of the gang rivalry.
Ameer Balaj had reportedly recently joined the PML-N after quitting the PTI.
Sharing the background of Lahore gangsters, a police officer said that the provincial capital had been in the spotlight for many decades when several underworld kingpins terrorized the people of Lahore, particularly during Shehbaz Sharif’s second term as prime minister in 2008.
He alleged that the prime suspects named in the Ameer Balaj murder case, namely Gogi Butt and Teefi Butt, were also among the top underworld dons besides Arif Ameer alias Tipu Truckanwala and many others. Some of them were killed by their rivals, while others were shot dead in alleged “stage encounters” during Shehbaz’s rule.
Prominent among them were Saqib Langra, Mubeen Butt, Aslam Bassa and Naveed Lumbiwala.
About Arif Ameer alias Tipu Truckanwala, the officer said he had no particular criminal record but had enmity with many groups in Lahore.
As time passed, the police officer said, some underworld bosses joined political parties to seek refuge under ruling political figures to avoid criminal cases. He said Gogi Butt and Teefi Butt were also among those who resumed their political activities. However, they continued to govern the city’s criminal world, expanding their networks.
Some city gangsters, like the Butts, feared that as Ameer Balaj rose to prominence, he might pose challenges to them in the future.
The gruesome murder of young Ameer Balaj shocked the underworld community, his family, relatives and close circles apart from traders as he also owned a major goods transportation network.
People associated with criminal circles fear that the murder of Ameer Balaj could lead to a new era of “murders” between these two groups/families.
Concerns about the CCD ‘meetings’
Earlier in July, the Lahore High Court (LHC) directed Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar to review the encounters carried out by the CCD.
LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, hearing a case relating to a woman’s petition against the murder of her son in an alleged CCD encounter, noted that the high court was receiving 50 petitions daily regarding fake police encounters and observed that the current wave of CCD encounters needs to be assessed.
The Chief Justice also directed the IGP to carry out a thorough review of the ongoing encounters and ensure that such fake encounters are not repeated in future.
He observed that “when there are shots, the bullet is so intelligent that it never hits a police officer or a vehicle.” The Chief Justice further stated that the FIRs of all the alleged police encounters follow the same pattern.
