An eight-year-old boy selling toys in Karachi’s Clifton area was allegedly shot dead by a private security guard on Sunday, according to the police.

Boat Basin police Station House Officer (SHO) Naseer Tanoli told Dawn.com that Mohammed Umer was allegedly killed in “accidental [gun]fire” by security guard Jan Mohammed at the Bilawal House roundabout.

“He was selling toys in the area,” he said.

Immediately after the shooting, the guard took the injured boy to the nearby Dr Ziauddin Hospital on a motorcycle but the eight-year-old succumbed to his injuries before reaching the hospital, Tanoli said.

“The guard then abandoned the body near the railway track in the same area and fled,” Tanoli stated.

He added that the police have registered a murder case against Mohammed over a complaint filed by the victim’s father. The body was moved to Civil Hospital Karachi.

According to the first information report (FIR), the complainant — Khadim Hussain — said he drove a rickshaw to earn his livelihood and originally hailed from Rohri, Sukkur. He was in Defence when his elder son informed him that Mohammed Umer had allegedly been shot by the guard of a restaurant.

Hussain said he rushed to the spot along with his wife and elder son but Umer’s whereabouts were not known. “Two people sitting in the restaurant took the family to the Jackson police station where the child’s body was laying in an ambulance.”

Meanwhile, Karachi Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab had taken notice of the murder and sought a report from the police, according to the spokesperson. He directed the police to immediately arrest the suspects.

Wahab promised that justice would be dispensed to the heirs. “No one would be allowed to take the law into their own hands,” vowed the administrator, expressing sympathy with the bereaved family.