KARACHI: A crowd of enraged people resorted to firing into the air and attacking a police post while blocking the New Sabzi Mandi section of Superhighway after a man was shot dead and another one wounded by robbers over resistance at a shop on Thursday.
Witnesses and SHO Aurangzeb Khattak of the SITE Superhighway Industrial Area police station said that four suspects riding motorbikes drove to a tyre shop located on a service road off Superhighway and snatched a mobile phone, cash and other valuables at gun point from some people present inside. Upon resistance, the robbers opened fire killing Haji Taj, 35, and wounding Haji Waris, 40. The robbers fled the area after committing the crime.
The dead and wounded victims were rushed to a hospital.
Soon after the incident, enraged relatives of the victims along with many residents of the area took to the streets and blocked both tracks of the highway near New Sabzi Mandi raising slogans against the police.
They also attacked a nearby police post with stones and resorted to aerial firing.
During the course of the protest, both tracks of the highway remained blocked and the traffic police had to divert all stuck up vehicles coming from Hyderabad towards Model Colony, Malir, and those going towards Hyderabad towards an alternative road from Jamali Pull.
A police team led by the SHO held negotiations with the protesters and finally persuaded them to clear the highway. The protesters dispersed peacefully only after they were assured that the killer gang would be arrested within a week.
Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2023
