KARACHI: Police on Friday killed an unarmed citizen and wounded another on I.I Chundrigar Road as they suspected them to be muggers.

The Mithadar police said that policemen of Madadgar-15 fired at two motorcyclists near Techno City killing 48-year-old Mohammad Aslam and wounding Waqar Mohammad, 26.

Noman, a friend of wounded Waqar, later told media that they were riding a motorbike when he received a phone call. He said as soon as he pulled out the mobile phone from his pocket some policemen standing at a parked mobile opened fire at them and the bullet hit his friend.

He said in a state of panic he raised both hands in the air and started crying. But the policemen continued to shoot and the bullet hit another motorcyclist, he added.

“With my hands up, I told the police we are not robbers,” said witness Noman.

DIG-South claims police mistook them as street criminals

He said after a while, the policemen abandoned the mobile and ran away.

The wounded citizens were taken to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi where doctors pronounced one of them dead.

Police Surgeon Qarar Ahmed Abbasi said that Aslam suffered a single wound in a hand and the bullet travelled to his chest and proved fatal. He said Waqar also sustained a single bullet in a hand and he was discharged from the hospital after initial medical aid.

Three constables held

DIG-South Javed Akbar Riaz claimed that the police resorted to firing as they considered them to be suspects.

He said that all three constables, identified as Imran Habib, Imran and Sarfaraz, had been taken into custody and were being questioned.

He added that SSP Muqaddas Haider had been assigned to conduct an inquiry into the incident.

While sharing findings of the initial probe, the SSP said that the policemen had “some misunderstanding” that the bike riders were looting another man who was also riding a motorbike.

They disembarked from the mobile and one of the policemen fired a single shot at the bike rider while another policeman also fired a single shot after suspecting that another citizen was pulling out a pistol since his hand was in his pocket.

He said a murder case would be registered against the three held policemen and the heirs of the deceased were asked to lodge an FIR. In addition to it, a departmental inquiry had also been initiated against the arrested policemen, he added.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took notice of the killing and sought a detailed report from the inspector general of police. “Such incidents are not acceptable in any situation,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2020