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KARACHI, Aug 23: Policemen looted people attending a wedding ceremony in Kharadar on late Thursday night.
The capital city police officer, Asad Jehangir, confirmed the incident.
The party, comprising five policemen, two in uniform and three in plain clothes, came to Ramdas Street in Kharadar around 2am in their official vehicle (SP-5221), witnesses said.
They went to the fourth floor of a building where a wedding ceremony was taking place. Witnesses said that five policemen held guests and hosts hostage at gunpoint using their official weapons and robbed them of cash and gold jewellery.
As the policemen were busy collecting cash and gold jewellery from guests and hosts, including women, some youths from the neighbourhood came there and overpowered two policemen by snatching their weapons. Three other policemen escaped leaving their official police van behind.
The two policemen, identified as Raja Nisar and Sher Bahadur, were beaten by guests and family members of the host. Looted gold jewellery and Rs23,000 were recovered from their possession, sources said.
People present on the occasion said that the absconding policemen escaped with Rs17,000.
The entire police party had been suspended, the capital city police officer said.
“They would be dismissed from service, following the suspension,” the CCPO said answering a question about the nature of punishment for the five suspects.
However, a duty officer at Kharadar police station said that the police party, belonging to the Investigation (property)-2, was chasing a suspect, Shahid, who had taken refuge in the wedding ceremony. The suspect was wanted in a case registered at Artillery Maidan police station.
He said that people from the neighbourhood had deflated the tyres of the police mobile van forcing policemen to leave it behind.
Sources said that the host kept a low profile after the incident, fearing further trouble from the police party.
No FIR was lodged at Kharadar police station till our going to press.
CARJACKING: Twelve vehicles — one car and 11 motorcycles — were either hijacked or stolen in the city on Friday, police said.
The car was stolen.
Three motorcycles were hijacked. Eight others were stolen.
Police also claimed on Friday to have recovered two cars and two motorcycles in the city.
INJURED: An activist of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement was shot and injured outside a mosque in Landhi on Friday.
Nasir, aged 28, was standing outside Al-Madina Jamia Masjid in Landhi No 1 when four men, riding on two motorcycles, came there and opened fire on him.
Nasir suffered two bullet wounds to his leg. He was taken to a nearby hospital.
Some leaders of the MQM (Haqiqi), including party chairman Afaq Ahmed, were offering prayers in the mosque at the time of the attack, a party spokesman said.
Party activists present outside the mosque returned the fire.
The attackers escaped on their motorcycles taking along an injured accomplice who was injured in the retaliatory firing, police said.
ROBBERY: Bandits attacked a godown of a company on Landhi- Korangi Road on Thursday night and took away at gunpoint a container-trailer, a truck and a Suzuki pick-up loaded with imported photographic material, battery cells and soap worth three million rupees.
The bandits made labourers working at the godown hostage.
The Landhi police registered a case on the complaint of the proprietor of the company.
ACCIDENT: An unidentified man was run over by a train at Malir 15 on Friday.
DIES: A young woman died when she fell from a bridge in West Wharf on late Thursday night.
