Mob justice: Second ‘robber’ lynched in city in two weeks

An alleged robber was beaten to death and another suspect seriously injured by a mob when they were trying to rob a milk shop owner in Orangi Town No. 1 on Saturday.

It was the second lynching of a robber in the city in as many months and fourth over the past five months.

Orangi Town SHO Yaseen Gujjar told The News that two robbers arrived at a milk shop with intentions of robbery.

“They held the shop owner, Mudassir, hostage at gunpoint and tried to clean the cash counter,” the SHO said, adding that Mudasir resisted the robbery bid and tried to overpower the robbers.

“On facing resistance, one of the robbers pulled the trigger of his TT pistol, but the bullet got stuck inside the weapon,” he said. Another robber then attacked Mudassir with a knife.

The police officer said some onlookers caught both the robbers and beat them brutally. One of the suspects had died when police reached the scene. The law enforces managed to save the other robber, however.

The injured man was taken to the Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, from where he was shifted to the Liaquat National Hospital. Doctors said the condition of the patient was precarious.

Police could not ascertain the identity of the dead immediately. However, the injured robber was identified as Mudassir Mehmood, 27, son of Tariq Mehmood.

On May 7 an alleged robber succumbed to his injuries after he was caught and beaten up by members of the public red-handedly while he was looting a rickshaw driver in Orangi Town No. 5.

Four robbers have been beaten to death by mobs in the city this year so far.

In January, a robber was burnt to death by vigilantes when he was caught looting a milk shop on Ghaus Pak Road in Korangi No. 4.

In February, two robbers were beaten to death in Landhi No. 6 when they were trying to escape after injuring two family members over showing resistance to a robbery bid.

According to the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) Annual Report 2016, seven robbers were lynched by members of the public in Sindh during 2016. Sindh saw a fall in such incidents last year as compared with those that had taken place in 2015 when 15 suspected robbers had been killed by mobs in the province.