• Casualties highlight widespread presence of weapons in metropolis
• Police chief stresses need to review policy to curb gun violence

KARACHI: Three people, including a minor girl, were killed and over 100 others wounded in celebratory gunfire across the city at midnight on Independence Day, officials said on Thursday.

In Hyderabad, eight people, including four women, were wounded in separate incidents of celebratory firing. The wounded persons were aged between five and 60.

Many believe the number of casualties highlights the widespread presence of weapons, licensed or unlicensed, in the metropolis and other parts of Sindh and raises serious questions about the efforts of police and Rangers to eradicate the menace.

The Karachi police claimed to have arrested 86 individuals for firing in the air and registered as many as 111 FIRs against them.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that a minor girl, an elderly man and a young man, who suffered gunshot wounds from aerial firing, were brought to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) and the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) from Azizabad, Lyari and Korangi, respectively.

She added that a total of 109 people with bullet wounds were brought to these three government hospitals from various parts of the metropolis. The condition of three wounded individuals was “unstable,” she said.

IGP wants state’s gun policy reviewed

Talking to Dawn, Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon acknowledged the so-called gun culture and said this was mainly because of an easy access to both licensed and unlicensed weapons.

“This is so unfortunate that people celebrate every important day — Chand Raat, Independence Day, New Year — with aerial gunfire,” he said.

He conceded that despite enacting tough laws to curb the menace of illicit weapons in society, “such criminal activity is not reducing”.

“I think we need to review our gun policy so that violence can be reduced,” he said. He confirmed the death of three people in aerial firing, but said that the number of wounded persons was 67.

About police action, he said as many as 86 suspects had been arrested and 111 cases registered against them. He said that suspects in 75 cases were booked on attempted murder and possessing illicit weapons charges.

Azizabad SHO Waqar Kaiser told Dawn that seven-year-old Mirha Waqas was killed by a stray bullet that struck her inside her home.

He said she was standing in the gallery on the second floor of her house in Block-8, apparently watching fireworks at midnight while standing on a stool, when a bullet hit her in the head. She fell silently and no one heard her cry. Some time later, her mother saw her lying unconscious and bleeding.

Her uncle rushed her to a nearby private hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead. The body was later shifted to the ASH.

The officer said the bullet was fired from a 9mm pistol. Police have detained four suspects involved in aerial firing and recovered two 9mm pistols from them to determine whether one of them was used in the killing.

Septuagenarian dies in Lyari

A 70-year-old man was shot dead by a stray bullet in the Kalri area of Lyari.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that Jumma Salman was sitting outside his home in Agra Taj Colony near Ibrahim Masjid on Wednesday night when a bullet struck his head. He was taken to CHK, where he died during treatment.

City SSP Arif Aziz said 12 suspects had been taken into custody for interrogation following the incident.

Meanwhile, Awami Colony police reported that a man, Stephon John, 35, was killed by a stray bullet in Korangi No. 3½ near Model Colony Park.

His body was shifted to the JPMC for medico-legal formalities and further investigation was underway.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2025