FREQUENT news stories about bone-chilling murders show that the face of crime is changing — there is a marked rise in gory, sociopathic methods to kill. Mustafa Amir’s brutal murder should be seen as a flashpoint for Karachi’s concerns about crime. According to the police, the 23-year-old was kidnapped and killed at a house in DHA allegedly by prime suspects, Armaghan Qureshi and Sheraz Bukhari; his body was set alight in Balochistan’s Hub area. A reminder of the Noor Mukadam, Sara Inam and Shahzeb Khan murders, the incident has stoked mass outrage and, as per police claims, blown the cover off an influential narcotics ring with international connections. Indeed, the tragedy presents a multidimensional test for the authorities. Beyond ensuring a robust investigation and prosecution built on solid evidence, and impartial legal proceedings, they must also be able to convey a political commitment towards crushing drugs and violence.

Modern crime is complicated, and often turns lethal when perpetrated in a drug-induced haze. Although the city police chief has formed a special investigation team to look into ‘criminal activities’ and network of those involved in this murder, it is more than clear and crucial that significant steps to thwart the trade of illegal substances have been absent for too long. Our youth cannot go up in smoke. And to prevent such a fate, the authorities need to expand their drug crackdown beyond DHA’s rarefied boundaries to cut off supply channels in the city and weed out enablers within law enforcement. The drastic escalation in the use of smuggled synthetic narcotics, particularly ice, which triggers psychotic episodes, has been reported for a while. In 2023, the Sindh Task Force on Demand Reduction of Drugs and Harmful Substance Control revealed that drug abuse afflicted every fourth household in Karachi. Pakistan’s youth and its potential cannot be consumed by the curse of heady hit jobs.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2025