KARACHI: A young doctor was shot dead during a robbery in Clifton on Monday after armed men looted Rs2.5 million that he had withdrawn from a private bank, police said.

Late in the evening, enraged family members and friends took the coffin to Teen Talwar and staged a sit-in, demanding justice.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the incident occurred near Teen Talwar, where Dr Akash Kumar, who was serving at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical College (JPMC), lost his life.

According to the DIG, Dr Kumar was accompanied by his father and cousin outside a bank when armed criminals intercepted them after they had withdrawn cash from another branch of a private bank.

He said Dr Kumar had withdrawn Rs5 million from the bank around midday and had also made purchases worth Rs50,000. The doctor, his father and cousin then travelled a short distance in their vehicle. As they reached another private bank near Teen Talwar, four robbers riding two motorcycles, who had apparently been following them, caught up with the vehicle after the doctor applied the brakes.

Police claim Akash was fatally shot by security guard during an exchange of gunfire with robbers; family stages sit-in at Teen Talwar to demand arrest of killers

The DIG said a private security guard deputed at the bank branch saw the muggers and took out his pistol and alerted Madadgar-15 that robbers had arrived to “loot the bank”. He then opened fire and robbers also retaliated and managed to escape after looting Rs2.5m.

During the crossfire, a bullet struck Dr Kumar in the chest. He was taken to a private hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. The DIG said the initial investigation had suggested that the bullet which led to Dr Akash’s death was fired by the bank security guard.

The guard has been arrested and the spent bullet casing fired from his pistol was also recovered from the victim, he added.

Dr Kumar was unmarried and had been serving at JPMC for the past two years. After medico-legal formalities were completed, his body was shifted from JPMC to the Chhipa morgue.

Police have obtained CCTV footage from the surrounding area to help identify the suspects. In addition, coordinates from the route taken by the suspects and the scene of the incident have been acquired for geo-fencing analysis.

Family stages protest

While the police blamed the security guard for firing the fatal bullet, the family apparently did not buy it.

Later in the evening, the victim’s family, relatives and a large number of friends brought the coffin in an ambulance to Teen Talwar, where they staged a sit-in and blocked the main road to vehicular traffic in protest over the killing.

Later, they ended the sit-in on the assurances of Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab and other government functionaries.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2026