KARACHI: Commuter, motorcyclist shot dead by bandits: Bus robbery
By S. Raza Hassan
KARACHI, July 5: A commuter and a motorcyclist were gunned down by the bandits riding in a bus in North Nazimabad on Tuesday. Moreover, three people were injured in separate incidents of cell phone and cash snatching in various parts of the city. Three suspects boarded the UTS bus of route 21 at Nagin Chowrangi at 12:45pm. As the conductor asked for the fare, they told him to wait, police said.
When the bus reached Sakhi Hasan, the suspects started collecting cash and valuables from passengers at gunpoint.
When a commuter, Tanveer, offered resistance, the suspects, while handing him over his cellular phone, shot him in the abdomen.
According to the TPO of North Nazimabad, Athar Rasheed Butt, other commuters raised a hue and cry over the shooting, but were helpless before the armed men.
The TPO said the suspects told the driver to stop the bus, but when he did not comply with their orders, they opened fire on him. The bullet, however, missed the driver and instead hit the wind-screen.
The driver instantly stopped the bus and opened the door. As they dashed out of the bus, the passengers tried to chase them.
Tanveer was shifted to Abbasi Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
In a desperate attempt, the suspects signalled a motorcyclist to stop, but when he tried to speed away, they shot him in the head. He, too, was rushed to the hospital, from where he was referred to JPMC. However, he succumbed to his wounds after three hours. The motorcyclist was identified as Abdul Khaliq, 35.
The suspects later snatched a car and escaped. A few hours later, the snatched car was found abandoned in SITE area.
In other incidents, three persons, including a young woman, were shot at in acts of cell phone and cash snatching in different parts of the city.
In Korangi-6, police said Kiran, 23, daughter of Shamshad Ali, was returning home after withdrawing cash from a bank when unknown suspects intercepted her. When she resisted, they shot at her and fled on a motorcycle.
In SITE area, armed suspects on a motorcycle intercepted Asif Mehmood near Binoria University to snatch his cellular phone. As the young man resisted, the suspects shot him and fled.
He was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where hospital sources said the victim suffered a bullet wound to his chest and was in a precarious condition.
In Shershah, armed men shot at a teenager when he resisted them and in giving away his cell phone.
Police said Yasin, 18, was taken to Civil Hospital where he was admitted for treatment.
In Gulshan-i-Iqbal, six armed men came to a house in Block-4 and took away Rs300,000.
According to family sources, six suspects came to the house, held a young boy hostage at gunpoint and fled after collecting foreign currency worth Rs250,000 and local currency Rs70,000. Before fleeing, they locked the family in the washroom.
HOSPITAL ROBBERY: At Liaquat National Hospital, a young man walked into a room in the executive wing of the hospital on Monday where daughter-in-law of Mrs Nighat Butt and her husband were present.
He introduced himself as a worker of a political party, saying his brother is admitted to the hospital with a bullet injury, so he needed cash for his treatment. Subsequently, the couple handed over their purse containing Rs7,000.
The suspect also deprived the lady of gold bangles she was wearing.
Commenting over the incident, a senior official of the LNH, Dr Shaukat Rajput, told Dawn that we have not found any evidence that such an incident had taken place, but they attended a claim that a family had been deprived of cash by an armed suspect.
“We have a close-circuit camera monitoring system installed in the hospital and there is nothing on the cameras”, Dr Rajput said. However, we have not rejected their claim and have further enhanced security at the hospital, he added.
The case has not been reported at New Town police station as the family is fearful.
