Karachi woman killed by stray bullet as police fire to disperse crowd

KARACHI: A 26-year-old woman was killed late on Tuesday when police opened fire to disperse people brawling over rations which were being distributed among the poor during the coronavirus lockdown.

The incident took place in Karachi’s PIB colony, where the members of two welfare organisations were distributing rations and a scuffle broke out among them.

After an exchange of harsh words between police and the workers of the charity organisations, a police officer opened fire to disperse the crowd.

A bullet from the policeman’s firing hit Saba who was standing at the rooftop of a nearby building.

She was shifted to a nearby hospital but could not survive as the bullet had pierced her head.

Following the incident, the residents of the area got agitated and protested against the policemen.

The enraged residents also broke the windows of the police mobile by hurling stones at them.

According to the residents, the policeman who opened fire was Head Constable Azeem, who had allegedly harassed the people in the area before too.

Residents said that they had lodged complaints against the said policeman but to no avail.

Police officials said that four policemen, including Azeem, were trying to disperse people after the incident but a girl died accidentally due to the warning shots fired at that time.

Police said that the weapon has been confiscated from Azeem and an investigation into the incident is underway.