KARACHI, Jan 28: Angry over the indifferent attitude of police in finding out a missing man who was later found shot dead, residents of Ayub Goth turned violent on Monday, attacked a police post of the Sohrab Goth police station, wounded two policemen and set fire to as many vehicles.

The attack, in which shots were also fired, was so intense that the policemen present in the post had no option but to abandon the place to save themselves.

The residents were protesting over the killing of a man, Hasan Mattiullah, 28, who was found shot dead in the Ayub Goth area in a truck.

Police said that the victim’s family first went to the Gulshan-i-Maymar police station to lodge a report about his disappearance. However, the police referred them to the Sohrab Goth police post situated in the industrial area, where the policemen did not listen to them and turned them away, according to the area people.

In the meanwhile, a truck cleaner, Lal Bakhsh, informed the family that bandits had hijacked the truck and Hasan, who worked as a loader at the Sabzi Mandi, was also on the vehicle. When Hasan put up resistance the bandits shot him dead, abandoned the truck and escaped.

After learning about the incident and assuming that Hasan’s life could have been saved if the police had responded in timely fashion, the family and area residents took to the streets and attacked the police post.

The protesters set fire to two motorcycles and as many vehicles, including a police mobile van.

Extra police reinforcement was called to handle the situation and an exchange of gunfire between the police and the protesters also took place during the violence. The police claimed to have rounded up some suspects from the scene.

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