KARACHI: Senior news producer of Samaa TV Athar Mateen, who was killed by armed robbers on Friday morning, was laid to rest on Saturday. President Arif Alvi, senior politicians and a large number of people attended his funeral.

Police also claimed to have achieved a breakthrough in the investigation of his murder.

They said Mateen had witnessed that two armed robbers were trying to rob a passer-by. He accelerated his car and hit the robbers’ motorbike, who fell on the road. The muggers opened fire on him and escaped after snatching the motorbike of another passer-by.

Funeral prayers were held at Masjid Siddiq Akbar in Clifton. Besides President Alvi, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Information Minister Saeed Ghani, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Abdul Aleem Khan, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leader Amir Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman also attended the funeral.

Later, he was laid to rest in Yasinabad graveyard.

Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon told Dawn that investigators had obtained ‘good clues’ and made ‘some headway’ to bring the culprits to justice.

“All I can say at this moment is that significant progress has been made in the case,” he said, without providing any further information.

Regarding the motive of the killers, he said that it was a robbery-related incident.

There was a robbery taking place on the road and two vehicles hit the robbers’ motorcycle to foil the mugging attempt.

First a citizen and then journalist Mateen in their separate cars hit their vehicles to the robbers’ motorbike and they fell and apparently in ‘reaction’, they opened fire on the journalist, the police officer said.

North Nazimabad SHO Haseebullah Shaikh said they were waiting for the family to lodge an FIR about the incident. The family had told the police that they would lodge the FIR after the funeral.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2022