KARACHI: A policeman was on Wednesday arrested for firing a bullet from his house that hit and killed a seven-year-old girl in her school in the Saeedabad area a couple of days ago.

On Sept 28, the minor girl, Aqsa, was playing along with other girls inside a private school when a stray bullet fired from an unknown location hit her in the shoulder. She was initially taken to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi and later moved to the National Institute of Child Health, where she died on Sept 30.

The police registered a murder case against unknown persons on the complaint of the girl’s father and initiated a probe.

During the probe, it transpired that the bullet was fired from a house close to the school.

The suspect told police his pistol accidentally went off while cleaning

“The police have arrested Constable Waseem Saiful Maluk,” said Saeedabad SHO Arz Mohammad.

He said that the held policeman was posted at the Ittehad Town police station. “He lives near the private school and told investigators that he was cleaning his licensed pistol inside his home when it accidentally went off.”

Karachi police chief Dr Ameer Ahmed Sheikh had taken it as a test case as he had directed all stakeholders to determine as to why incidents involving stray bullets had become rampant.

Suspect shot dead in ‘encounter’

A suspected criminal was shot dead while another arrested in an injured condition in North Nazimabad area late on Tuesday night.

The Hyderi Market police said that two suspects snatched a motorbike at gunpoint from a citizen within the remit of the Samnabad police station.

When they reached the KDA Chowrangi near Saifee Hospital, the Hyderi Market police intercepted them and in an ensuing encounter, one suspect was killed while another was arrested in a wounded condition, said SSP Central Irfan Baloch.

The snatched motorcycle, seven mobile phones, two TT pistols and eight rounds were recovered from their custody, said area SHO Arshad Janjua.

The wounded suspect was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where doctors said his condition was critical.

The body of the deceased was moved to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.

The area SHO said that the police were trying to ascertain the identity of both the suspects.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2018