Mob attacks police station to get hold of murder suspect to lynch him

KARACHI: Unruly situation was witnessed outside the Surjani Town police station on Friday as following the arrest of a suspect who had allegedly shot a man dead during the night hours, relatives of the victim tried to enter the police station to get hold of the suspect in order to lynch him.A man was killed and another injured in a firing incident near Yaro Goth in Surjani Town on the night between Thursday and Friday. Police arrested the suspect involved in the shooting who claimed that he had fired at the two men over his suspicion that they were robbers.

On Friday, relatives of the deceased man staged a protest outside the Surjani Town police station, demanding that the suspect be handed over to them. They attacked the police station with stones during the protest and tried to enter it.The police closed the gates of the police station and resorted to aerial firing in order to stop the mob, causing panic in the area. The police also took four of the protesters into custody.When the two men were shot, false reports initially circulated that a suspect had been killed and his accomplice injured during a police encounter.

Later, police and witnesses’ account stated that the firing was heard near an eatery in the area, following which an injured person came running to the eatery and told people there that he had been shot along with his friend who was lying injured on the road.The people called an ambulance to shift the two injured men to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital but one of the injured, identified as Wakeel, died on his way to hospital. The other injured man was identified as Asghar.The police arrested a man, Noor Muhammad, alias Mastana, who had allegedly shot the two men. In his initial statement, the arrested suspect told the police that he had opened fire on the two men as he suspected them to be robbers.Police, however, said the arrested man had a criminal record and he had also been arrested in the past for shooting and injuring people.

The deceased and injured men were said to be employees of a garment factory and residents of Yaro Goth. A few hours after the incident, relatives of the two men arrived in large numbers at the police station and tried to get access to the suspect.During the protest, a few people entered the police station and others started throwing stones at the building, which prompted the police to immediately close the doors of the police station and fire in the air to disperse the protesters.Police said the protesters wanted the suspect to be handed over to them so that they could take revenge.Police said some protesters had petrol with them, which suggested that they wanted to burn the suspect alive.An extra police force had to be called, which brought the situation under control. The police also detained four people involved in rioting.District West SSP Faisal Bashir Memon said legal proceedings had been initiated against the suspect. However, relatives of the deceased alleged that they were demanding immediate registration of a case but the police were not doing so in order to save the suspect.