KARACHI: A young man said to be suffering from some mental illness and armed with an assault rifle and a pistol was arrested on Tuesday more than an hour after he kept a road in DHA Phase VI blocked and fired random shots into the air and held a passer-by family hostage at gunpoint.

The area police said that the armed man identified as Arif Chishti parked his car on the main road on Khayaban-i-Ittehad and took out a sub-machine gun and a 9mm pistol.

He fired multiple shots into the air that caused panic and spread fear in the area and resulted in suspension of vehicular traffic on the roads.

“Later, he climbed over the roof of his car and sat there and kept firing his gun into the air without any provocation,” said an official at the Darakshan police station. “He fired at least six gunshots in a row and a few of the bullets also hit the windscreen of his own car. He then intercepted a rickshaw carrying a family at gunpoint and held a girl travelling with the family hostage.”

The stand-off became tense when the armed man apparently finished off all his ammunition in the firing and sensing that the policemen present at the scene began moving forward, he added.

“As the policemen were trying to convince him to surrender one of the TV reporters covering the event overpowered him,” said the official. “The man is in police custody. We have seized an SMG and a 9mm pistol from his possession and the legality of these arms are being checked before registering a case against him. He is a resident of DHA and suffering from some mental illness as the family says that he had shot and wounded his father a couple of days ago at home.”

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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