In yet another incident of police brutality in Karachi, a policeman shot and seriously injured a student of secondary education in the Golimar area of Karachi in the early hours of Wednesday.
Whereas the police department has not been doing enough to deal with armed bandits who mug and shoot people over slight resistance, the cases of cops targeting innocent civilians have been on the rise, increasing the trust deficit between the public and the police.
Fourteen-year-old Ayan, student of grade VIII, was shot and injured by police personnel in plainclothes belonging to a motorcycle squad near the Golimar underpass within the limits of the Rizvia police station.
The injured teenager was shifted to a private hospital on National Stadium Road for medical treatment. The victim’s friend namely Owais was also accompanied him when the tragic incident took place narrated that they were going towards Golimar Chowrangi from the Lalukhet area on their motorcycles when some persons, who later turned out to be policemen in plainclothes, present near the underpass caught his hand on a moving motorcycle causing the motorcycle to slip.
”Upon seeing this, Ayan got scared and turned his motorcycle in an attempt to go back,” Owais said, adding that a policeman then shot him from behind. “Ayan was seriously injured and lying on the ground and the officers in plainclothes started to make a video. We kept crying but the policemen did not listen to us,” the ill-fated friend explained.
The family of the victim blamed the police for the incident and demanded justice from the higher authorities. They called for penalising the police personnel responsible for the incident. An uncle and aunt of the injured teenager said that he had left his house late at night to get milk and his friend Owais accompanied him on another motorcycle. The bullet hit the victim from the back and damaged his lungs after penetrating the backbone.
“Doctors have expressed fear that our child may get disabled,” the family members said. “The incompetence of the police should be brought to the fore, otherwise we will protest strongly.”
Police officials said the preliminary investigation into the incident had revealed negligence on the part of the cops. They explained that before the incident, there had been a motorcycle snatching in the area.
Police officials added that they were in touch with the family of the injured youth and the investigations were under way. No official has been arrested yet, but District Central SSP Maroof Usman while talking to the media said that it was the police fault and the negligent policemen would be brought to light.
The West DIG has also formed an inquiry committee. He announced that the treatment of the injured teenager was the responsibility of the police. According to the preliminary information, the cop who fired at the teenager was Constable Safdar. SSP Usman said Safdar had been detained and SHO Waqar Qaiser suspended.