A suspected robber acting alone was lynched by an angry mob in Ittehad Town, Karachi on Wednesday, officials said.

Speaking to Dawn.com, Station House Officer (SHO) Rao Shabbir said the suspect, armed with a pistol, attempted to loot a citizen near Babu Chowk in Qaimkhani Colony.

The citizen put up resistance, and was joined by others standing nearby, who got hold of the suspect.

The mob beat him severely with blunt instruments, resulting in his death on the spot, SHO Shabbir said.

The body was shifted to Civil Hospital Karachi, where the suspect’s identity could not be ascertained immediately, according to SHO Shabbir.

The police claimed to have recovered one pistol along with rounds, the SHO added.

Recent reports indicate a significant surge in street crime in Karachi, with daily occurrences of theft and violence.

Police on Sunday launched an investigation into the murder of a young man who was gunned down by robbers in Gulshan-i-Iqbal the previous day.

Itteqa Moeen, a 27-year-old gold medalist mechanical engineer and Hafiz Quran, was killed on Saturday by gunmen who took away his motorcycle, cell phone and other valuables.

The incident angered opposition parties who demanded a grand operation against dacoits in Karachi and an ending of the “politicisation of police” to restore peace.

On Tuesday, a 20-year-old young man and a businessman were shot dead by alleged robbers in two separate incidents in Karachi’s Korangi and Defence Housing Authority (DHA), police said.

An enraged mob lynched a suspected robber in Orangi Town while police saved his accomplice from being killed last month. Separately, another young man was shot dead in Azizabad in early May.