Funeral prayers held for two policemen martyred by muggers

One of the police constables who had been wounded during an exchange of fire with suspected street criminals in the Korangi Industrial Area a day earlier succumbed to his injuries at the hospital on Thursday. Meanwhile, five more suspects were arrested, four of them in an injured condition, in three encounters with the police.

PC Sajid Zaman and another constable had been wounded during an exchange of fire with two suspected robbers in the Korangi area. The two suspected criminals had also been shot dead during the encounter. The suspected robbers had also martyred head constable Manzoor and injured his partner in Korangi’s Zaman Town earlier in the day.

The funeral prayers for both constable Sajid of the Korangi Industrial Area and head constable Manzoor of the Zaman Town police station were offered at the Police Headquarters, Garden, on Thursday.

Besides the families of the deceased, the funerals were attended by Pakistan Peoples Party leader Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, Sindh police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon, the Sindh Rangers chief, Karachi police chief Javed Akhtar Odho, zonal DIGs, districts SSPs and the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee chief.

Memon paid tribute to the courage and bravery of the martyred policemen and also ordered the senior police officers present on the occasion to complete all the necessary legal matters for the families of the deceased as soon as possible.

On Wednesday Qayyum Umer, 25, was shot dead by suspected robbers in the Korangi No. 3 area. After the incident, Zaman Town officials patrolling on a motorbike spotted them and engaged in a shootout with them in Korangi Sector 51C.

The encounter left head constable Manzoor injured, while the suspected robbers managed to escape from the spot under the cover of fire. The wounded cop was taken to a private hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment.

Two police constables then located the suspects at the Korangi Causeway near the driving licence branch, but the suspects opened fire and injured both the policemen. However, despite their injuries, constables Sajid Zaman and Khan Raziq continued the shootout and managed to apprehend both suspects after wounding them.

The four men were taken to different hospitals. The suspects were pronounced dead upon arrival by the doctors, while constable Sajid succumbed to his injuries on Thursday. One of the suspected robbers, identified as Amjad Ali Gopang, son of Faqir Muhammad, was already wanted by the police in Khairpur. He had also been arrested in March by the Aziz Bhatti police but he had secured bail.

Three shootouts

On Thursday an encounter took place between police and suspected robbers in Hungora Goth within the jurisdiction of the SITE Super Highway police station. After an exchange of fire, police arrested two suspected robbers in an injured condition.

The suspected robbers were identified as Shah Noor, son of Laal Muhammad, and Arshad, son of Anwar. Police also claimed to have seized two TT pistols from their possession. The injured were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

Similarly, two more suspects were arrested, one of them in an injured condition, after an encounter near the KDA Employees Society within the jurisdiction of the Korangi Industrial Area police station.

Police said the suspects were named Abdul Malik and Usama, adding that Malik had been arrested in an injured condition. One TT pistol was also recovered from him. The injured suspected robber was taken to the JPMC.

Separately, a suspected robber identified as Hameedullah was arrested in an injured condition after an encounter in the Orangi Town area within the Mominabad police jurisdiction. His accomplice managed to escape from the scene. Police recovered a TT pistol from the arrested suspect. The injured was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.