HYDERABAD: Viole­nce broke out in the Hala Naka area of the city when an enraged mob torched an SUV that had ran over and killed two youths after hitting many vehicles and injuring several other people on Tuesday.

The brand new double-cabin vehicle went out of its driver’s control and hit vehicles and people with full force leaving two youths, Ahsan, 24, son of Abdul Majeed, and Rawal, 20, son of Ramesh, dead. The six injured persons were identified as Ms Sohni, her mother, Mrs Zahida, her son, Faizan, Paresh, 17, Shukar Deen, 13, and Bashir, 35.

Provoked by the incident, an enraged mob set the SUV on fire and reportedly tried to lynch its driver.

It all started when the man driving the SUV — later identified by police as Zar Nawaz, a coal mine owner — lost control of his overspeeding vehicle while coming from the Hala Naka side and heading for the Hatri area.

Initial reports said that he hit two motorcycle riders and then dashed against a car, a rickshaw and several pushcarts. Eventually, the SUV overturned.

The furious mob had gathered at the site and some of them seemingly intended to lynch him.

A strong contingent of police led by SSP Shahzeb Chahcar, along with Rangers personnel, rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.

The mob started pelting police vehicles with stones prompting the force to call out reinforcement from other police stations.

After failing to disperse the mob despite applying baton charge, the police first lobbed teargas shells and then fired shots into the air.

They managed to rescue Zar Nawaz. “The aerial firing and teargas shelling helped us rescue Zar Nawaz and shift him to a safe place,” said SSP Chachar while talking to Dawn.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2026