Woman killed in ‘crossfire between police, robbers’ in Orangi

A female passer-by was gunned down during an alleged exchange of fire between police and robbers in Orangi Town on Tuesday.

Forty-six people, including women and children, have already been killed by street criminals this year, breaking the records of previous years. The latest incident took place in Sector 7-D of Orangi Town, where a woman was shot dead during an alleged crossfire between the Orangi Town police and robbers.

District West SSP Dr Hafeez told the media that two robbers snatched a mobile phone from someone, and they were making their escape when police officers on patrol arrived there. “People raised an outcry about robbers snatching a mobile phone and escaping, so the police pursued them,” explained the officer. He claimed that the robbers fired directly at police officials, hitting a woman near the Sindh Government Qatar Hospital. The officer said the woman had arrived at the hospital with her husband for a relative’s treatment when she got hit by a bullet and died on the spot.

The SSP claimed that the woman had not died as a result of a crossfire, because the suspects had opened fire as soon as the police had arrived on the scene, and that she had been killed due to the suspects’ firing.

He said that the police then pursued the suspects, and there was an exchange of fire between the police and the suspects, but the suspects managed to escape. He also said that a search is under way to arrest the suspects, adding that police have taken the statement of the deceased woman’s husband and are conducting an investigation. The Karachi police spokesperson said the deceased had been identified as 50-year-old Nazia Anjum, wife of Abdul Jabbar, adding that her body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Surjani case

Police have registered the murder case of a young man who was shot dead by robbers while he was returning home after attending an Iftar party at his maternal uncle’s house in Surjani Town on Monday.

Zohaib Irfan, 32, was killed by suspects on a motorbike near Sector 4D in the Abdullah Morr area. Following the incident, the Sindh home minister had ordered the immediate suspension of the Surjani Town SHO.

Police said that empty shells recovered from the crime scene were sent to the forensic division while they were also getting help from the CCTV camera footage to trace and arrest the suspects.

Despite the claims of law enforcement agencies that measures are being taken to control street crime, the law and order situation in the city seems to be worsening every day, with the daily rate of robberies exceeding 256.

Two gangsters held

The CTD of the Sindh police arrested two suspects allegedly involved in the murder of a policeman. The suspects were apprehended in a raid conducted on a tip-off in the Old Golimar area. They were identified as Abdul Qadir alias DJ, son of Yaqoob, and Shahzaib, son of Munir Ahmed. According to CTD incharge Chaudhry Safdar, during the initial course of interrogation, the suspects revealed their association with the Haji Riasat group of the Lyari gang war and their involvement in drug peddling.

CTD in-charge Chaudhry Safdar stated that Abdul Qadir was also implicated in the murder of police constable Farooq in 2019. He said both suspects had been previously arrested in connection with the constable Farooq murder case. The CTD police also seized two pistols from their possession.