Muggers rob newly-weds on beach, shoot husband dead

A newly married man was shot dead in front of his wife after he resisted an attempt to mug them while the couple was sitting at the beach in the city during the early hours of Tuesday.

Police have failed to stop the menace of street crime. Robbers took the lives of 135 people and injured around 500 others last year, while over a dozen residents have lost their lives over resisting the attempts to mug them in the new year.

In the latest tragic incident, Adnan Ishaq, 25, and his wife were sitting at the beach strip near Sea View in Clifton after having dinner at a restaurant near Dou Darya when two men on a motorbike arrived on the scene.

“Adnan became agitated and resisted when the dacoits started robbing me,” the victim’s wife, the sole eyewitness of the incident, said. “In retaliation, the robbers shot Adnan twice in the head.”

The couple had got married just three months ago. The muggers looted the deceased and his wife, making off with their mobile phones, cash and other belongings. Police took the body of the victim to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. A resident of Naval Colony in Baldia Town, the man had been running his business in Balochistan and Karachi, and had family ties in the Qalat region of Balochistan.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident. They have collected evidence from the scene of the crime, and are investigating the case from various angles. “Currently, no conclusive statements can be made because this case doesn’t appear to be a typical snatch-and-run incident, as normally, robbers fire a shot and then make their escape,” South Zone police chief DIG Asad Raza told The News.

However, the official said, in this case the victim was shot twice directly in the head, and once in the arm. “We have registered an FIR based on resistance during robbery, as per the statement given by the wife. Despite that, we’re examining this case from different angles.”

DIG Raza said that not much can be said about the robbers, but it is understood that they were speaking Urdu. This is notable because the location of the incident is in complete darkness, with no cameras in the vicinity, he added. However, he pointed out, police are attempting to search for cameras in the surroundings to find any clues. Additionally, he continued, the investigators are also conducting geo-fencing.

“It doesn’t seem likely that the robbers followed the couple from the restaurant because a significant amount of time had passed since they left the restaurant to sit on the wall at the beach.”

He said that it appears that the robbers randomly approached the couple. “We’re also investigating if these robbers have been involved in similar incidents before, based on the statement given by the wife.”