KARACHI: A day after the body of a 16-year-old student was found in a call centre in Liaquatabad, investigators said on Saturday that he was accidentally shot and killed during the making of a TikTok video by his friend.

On Friday, the body of Abdullah Mehmood, who was a matriculation student and worked part-time at the call centre, was found at his workplace. The police found a pistol from the scene and launched a probe.

The call centre owner, Haris, had informed the police that the pistol belonged to him but he had locked it in the office. He also said that he was not present at the office when the incident took place.

On Saturday, Central SSP Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi claimed to have solved the case.

He told a press conference that the police grilled victim’s friend Sarfraz Ayaz who revealed that he and Abdullah took the licensed pistol of the call centre owner to make a TikTok video.

The SSP said that victim Abdullah recorded his video using the pistol. Then Sarfraz held the pistol and was recording the video when the gun accidentally went off and a bullet hit Abdullah in the face. He died on the spot. In a state of panic, the suspect fled from the scene, went to his home and then to the tuition centre on Friday night.

The SSP said that a case under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered against the held suspect.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2024