Shahzain Marri flees as five guards involved in assault on PPP leader in Boat Basin arrested

Police have so far failed to arrest the main suspect, Shahzain Marri, in the case of assault on a real estate agent, who is also an office-bearer of the Pakistan Peoples Party, and his friend in the post Boat Basin locality.

However, police have claimed the arrest of five of Marri’s security guards in connection with the case. The incident took place on February 19, but the affected citizen, Barkat Ali — who is a real estate agent by profession and affiliated with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as the deputy secretary of its Youth Organisation Karachi Division — approached the Boat Basin police on February 21 and got an FIR registered but police took no action for almost a week after the FIR registration.

However, the case came into limelight on the night of February 27, when a video of the incident went viral on social media clearly showing Marri and his guards deliberately reversing their vehicle to hit the affected citizen’s car, then stepping out of their vehicles armed with Kalashnikovs and physically assaulting Ali and his friend.

The viral video built pressure on the police and forced them into action. Within hours, they arrested five of Marri’s security guards in a series of raids on the night between Thursday and Friday. Yet, the main suspect remains at large.

Marri is reportedly from an influential family in Balochistan, and this is not the first criminal incident involving him or his guards. There have been several past incidents where he was allegedly involved in lawlessness, including firing at Sea View in April 2023. At that time too, police only managed to arrest his security guards.

It is being said that Marri has fled to Quetta, Balochistan. Police say they have contacted the Balochistan police for his arrest, but no action has been taken so far.

Speaking to The News, Ali, the victim, said he and his friend were heading home after dinner when they were making a U-turn. At that moment, three vehicles belonging to Marri and his associates had already passed, and a fourth vehicle was in the process of crossing when suddenly, one of the vehicles reversed and hit his car. After that, they were subjected to physical assault.

Ali maintained that Marri was intoxicated. He added that the suspect had shown similar behaviour in the past in different areas of Clifton and Defence. “But no one here dares to arrest him,” he added.

The victim also revealed that he wanted to file an FIR the very first day, but at that time, Boat Basin SHO Irfan Meo was in charge, and he continuously delayed the registration of the FIR. Eventually, Ali had to use his influence to get the FIR registered.

“But even after the FIR was registered, police did nothing. Luckily, the video of the incident was available and went viral; otherwise, given the police’s usual attitude, even this much action wouldn’t have been taken,” he said. “The real culprit is Shahzain Marri. The police should arrest him but to be honest, I don’t have much hope that they will.”

Speaking to The News, the current Boat Basin SHO, Muhammad Riaz, confirmed that five security guards involved in the incident had been arrested, and Kalashnikovs recovered from their possession. He added that the seized weapons were being verified to determine whether they were legal or illegal, and efforts were under way to arrest the prime suspect.