KARACHI: Army soldiers deployed at one of the entry points of the Malir cantonment killed a motorcyclist on Friday when he entered the fortified garrison area without proving his identification.

However, the whole incident remained shrouded in mystery since army authorities were not willing to share complete information with the local police as well as the media till late in the night, although the man was killed in the afternoon.

The body of the deceased was dispatched to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre from the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) several hours after the incident for a mandatory post-mortem examination.

Malir SSP Rao Anwar told Dawn that he also heard about the incident from other sources but got no official confirmation. However, Malir Cantt SHO Jafar Baloch said that the military authorities had informed him about the death of an unidentified man and asked him to take the body for completion of legal formalities.

Dr Seemin Jamali, the head of JPMC’s emergency department, said that the victim suffered a single bullet wound in the chest. He appeared to be in his early 20s, she added.

About the incident, the SHO said that the soldiers posted at the Gate No. 5 of the Malir Cantt signalled a motorcyclist to stop and prove his identification. However, he crossed the gate and tried to speed away upon which the soldiers fired at him.

The SHO said that the man got wounded and was taken to the CMH, where he died after about one and half hours.

He said that the identification of the deceased could not be made till late in the night.

The motorcycle (NHF-6237) that he was riding was a stolen one, he said, adding that a man, Saleem, lodged a report (FIR 36/2016) at the SITE-Superhighway police station on Friday morning that someone had stolen his motorbike.

The area SHO said that the incident at Malir Cant occurred at around 1.15pm.

Meanwhile, a military source told Dawn that it was an “accident”.

He said that the soldiers asked the man to stop and show his identification. He instead entered and sped away only to come back again.

The chasing soldiers asked him to stop, but he did not pay any heed to their warning. In view of his suspicious activity, the soldiers fired a “careful shot”, the source said, adding that the wounded was moved to a hospital where he died.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2016