KARACHI: Armed robbers continued to operate with complete impunity as they killed a man and wounded seven others over resistance in the metropolis on Sunday, police said.

While police are busy in providing security to teams of enumerators and polio workers, the city has been witnessing an alarming surge in incidents of mugging in which the criminals do not hesitate in opening fire over even slightest resistance.

Only on Saturday, armed robbers killed a young man, who came here from Punjab in search of employment, when he refused to give them his mobile phone in New Karachi.

“It is correct that we have spared a major part of our force for national duties [digital census and polio eradication drive],” Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon told Dawn. “We can’t avoid performing such national duties; however we try to give [an] appropriate response against crimes despite our limited resources.”

Majority of police force busy in providing security to census, polio teams, says IGP

On Sunday evening, a 45-year-old man fell prey to street crime in the Landhi area.

Police and rescue services said that Akram Wahab was intercepted by armed muggers near Babar Market. They held him at gunpoint and demanded his mobile phone and cash. As he tried to put up resistance, they fired at him and escaped.

An area police officer, Jamil Ahmed, said that Wahab suffered critically bullet wounds and was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

The police said that a case would be registered later as victim’s relatives were busy in funeral arrangements.

Three wounded over resistance in one incident

The New Karachi police said that unidentified robbers shot at and wounded three men at a same place near Saleem Centre in North Karachi.

They said that Awais Saleem, 26, Farhan Rasool, 25, and Umar Zubair, 28, suffered bullet wounds and were moved to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) for treatment.

The police said that armed robbers shot them when they put up resistance.

The Pirabad police said that Sajjad Ahmed, 45, was shot by armed robbers when he offered resistance near Valika Chowrangi in Banaras. The injured man was shifted to the ASH for treatment.

In Surjani Town police remit, robbers shot at and wounded teenager Sami Hameed over resistance near 4-K Chowrangi on Sunday evening. The wounded teenager was shifted to the ASH.

The Saudabad police said that Noman Iqbal, 25, was shot at and wounded by muggers when he resisted them at the Malir flyover. The injured man was shifted to the JPMC.

In the Sachal area, 36-year-old Wazir was shot and wounded by armed muggers over resistance. The police said that the injured man was taken to the ASH for treatment.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2023