Boy injured by ‘VIP protocol police mobile’ dies in hospital

A 17-year-old boy who was crushed and injured allegedly by a VIP protocol police mobile in the Defence area five days ago succumbed to his injuries on Thursday.

A resident of Liaquatabad No. 8, Usman, son of Waheed, had been brought to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi’s (CHK) Trauma Centre with serious injuries on Saturday night. Doctors performed a neurosurgery on him and moved him into the Critical Care Unit, where he died five days later.

“Officials at the Hilal-e-Ahmar Hospital told us that a police mobile deployed on a security protocol left Usman injured at the hospital,” the victim’s brother-in-law, Imran, told The News. He said officials at the CHK’s Trauma Centre told them that Usman was brought in by an ambulance of the Hilal-e-Ahmar Hospital.

“Officials of Hilal-e-Ahmar Hospital assured us that they would give us CCTV footage of the police mobile in which Usman was brought in there, but they refused to give us footage when we reached there to collect it.”

Imran said some people arrived at the Trauma Centre and asked for Usman. “When they left the Trauma Centre, we asked the officials who they were. The officials told us that they introduced themselves as people of Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio.”

Imran said they believed Usman was crushed a vehicle in Chandio’s protocol. Usman had passed his intermediate examination recently and was working at a garment’s outlet in Defence.

Imran said the dead body was handed over to them by Frere police after the completion of legal formalities, and Usman’s funereal prayers would be offered today. Saddar SP Tauqeer Muhammad Naeem, who is also holding charge of Clifton SP Dr Assad Malhi in his absence, said he had no idea about this development.

He said he would respond after collecting information from the policemen assigned to oversee Usman’s legal formalities, but the reply did not come before the filing of this report.