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| Cops kill pillion rider, mob vents anger |
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Saturday, November 28, 2009
By M. Waqar Bhatti
Karachi
The Garden police personnel on Friday killed a young man near the Abbasi Chowk in the limits of Eidgah police station. The policemen had asked the motorcyclists to stop, however, he ignored the police and tried to flee, eyewitnesses and senior police officials said.
The deceased was identified as Muhammad Arif, 27, son of Ali Muhammad Jan, a resident of Sarbazi Mohalla, Singulane Lyari. He was the eldest among his nine brothers and sisters.
Soon after the incident, angry area residents beat up the cops and also set their motorcycle on fire. The mob blocked the main Nishtar Road in protest, pelted stones on passing vehicles and chanted slogans against the police high handedness.
Heavy contingents of police and Rangers reached the spot after the incident. They got the policemen freed from the clutches of the angry mob and arrested them. An FIR was also registered against the two.
The incident took place on Friday afternoon as Arif and Kashif were passing from Ranchore Line, Garden on a motorbike. They were signalled by two police constables, Akhtar and Shahzad, to stop.
“Instead of stopping, both Arif and Kashif tried to flee from the scene. Both the cops followed them and after a few minutes chase, they came in front of each other near Abbasi Chowk and both the bikes collided head on. All four of them fell on the ground and as they were getting on their feet, one police personnel fired a single shot on a man in front of him, hitting him in the rib cage,” eyewitnesses and police officials said.
The bullet fired by the police personnel Akhtar hit Arif, injuring him fatally. The injured man died at the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) although he was immediately rushed to the hospital by the rescuers.
There were scores of people watching the entire episode and when they learnt that both men were innocent and had nothing to do with any crime, they overpowered the policemen and subjected them to severe torture.
SHO Garden police station Abdul Ghaffar Korai said that Akhtar and Shahzad, were arrested and a case had been registered against them by the Eidgah police as the incident took place in their jurisdiction.
“Both the cops say they were scared of the men as they appeared to be Baloch, since in a similar incident a few weeks ago, two Baloch motorcyclists had killed a constable of Nabi Bux police in the same area,” Inspector Korai said.
SHO Korai opined that police constable Akhtar had tried to fire on the leg of the man who was killed but accidentally, he hit him in the ribcage area, injuring him critically.
On the other hand, Supervisory Police Officer (SPO) Garden Nisar Qaimkhani claimed that when both the police personnel came close to the motorcyclists who had tried to flee despite police orders, they further tried to snatch the weapons from the policemen, at which a shot was fired by one of the policemen.
Qaimkhani, however, acknowledged that no weapons were recovered from the deceased and his companion but ruled out the possibility that both the men were innocent and had no criminal record.
“If persons living in Lyari are innocent then there is no criminal in this city,” he remarked.
SP Saddar Abdullah Sheikh when approached said that both PCs were in custody of the police and if proved guilty they would be dealt with according to the law.
The senior police official, however, also blamed the men on the motorbike of trying to flee and provoking the policemen that led to the killing.
Meanwhile, the Eidgah police registered an FIR 349/09 against Akhtar Zaman and Shahzad under section 302.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
