Pakistani Canadian, businessman shot dead by muggers

A Pakistani Canadian and a businessman were gunned down by armed robbers on Tuesday for resisting attempts to mug them in Nazimabad and Orangi Town respectively.

Police have failed to control street crime in Karachi, as the number of deaths due to firing during robberies in the city this year has reached 70 in almost six months.

According to details, Pakistani Canadian Amin Alvi was killed during a robbery near the Board Office in Nazimabad. Police said the victim was out shopping with four street children when the incident occurred.

Officials said Alvi went to the bank and a money exchange before taking the children shopping in Nazimabad. One of the children accompanying the victim narrated the incident to the police.

The child said that two men arrived on a motorbike, then one of them got off the two-wheeler and approached the car, adding that as soon as he came near, he asked the victim to hand over his cash and other valuables.

The child also said that Alvi had assured the mugger of complying with his demands, adding that when the mugger slid his hand into the victim’s pocket, he pushed him back, following which the mugger shot him and escaped with his accomplice.

The child further said that Alvi was lying on the road for several minutes, but none of the drivers who had stopped helped him, adding that a rickshaw driver eventually took him to the hospital, where he died during treatment. Police said Alvi had retired from a foreign airline five years ago, adding that he visited Karachi twice or thrice a year. His funeral prayers would be offered after his family reaches the city. No case was registered until the filing of this report.

Separately, a trader of potatoes and onions was killed by unidentified robbers in the Orangi Town locality over resisting an attempt to mug him. Naseem, 45, was a father of six daughters. His family has demanded that the police arrest the killers immediately.

The family said Naseem was a big businessman, adding that he had left home early in the morning to go to the vegetable market when he was attacked by robbers.

Police said that according to the eyewitnesses, the suspects were already waiting on the road, adding that they killed the victim when he approached in his car with his driver and workers. Officials said they were trying to get the CCTV camera footage of the incident. According to them, the killers had made off with more than Rs100,000.