Police declare year’s first mob justice case an encounter

An alleged robber was killed while another was severely injured when a mob subjected them to brutal assault after the victim they had mugged earlier shot and injured both of them in New Karachi on Thursday. Incidentally, the police declared the assault as an encounter in the FIRs.

Aijaz Lodhi, the SHO of Khawaja Ajmair Nagri police station, told The News that the victim Syed Muzammil Hussain was on his way back home with his sister when four armed men intercepted their motorbike near Major Shabbir Sharif Park in Sector 5-4/C, New Karachi.

According to the SHO, the muggers held the siblings hostage at gunpoint and took away his cell-phone and the sister’s purse, but when they were riding away, Hussain opened fire at them.

Two robbers were hit by bullets while two of their companions managed to flee in an exchange of gunfire with the mugging victim. Following this, a mob gathered at the site and began beating up the injured robbers, but police reached there and shifted them to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Lodhi said.

He added one of them died on the way because of excessive bleeding while the other was moved to a private hospital in critical condition. Later on Thursday night, Khawaja Ajmair Nagri police registered three FIRs 9/18, 10/18, 11/18 on the complaint of Hussain, the mugging victim.

“Encounter”

However, according to Sarfaraz, the head moharir of Khawaja Ajmair Nagri police station, section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act has been included in the cases. Quoting the text of the FIR, the official said that the victim had stated that two armed men had held him and his sister hostage and took away their valuables. However, contrary to the SHO’s statement, Sarfaraz claimed to The News that a police party reached there, killed one of them and arrested the other after a brief encounter.

When The News reached out to West-Zone Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) Zulfiqar Ali Larik to ascertain why police declared a case of mob justice as a police encounter, he said that since he was looking after 40 police stations in his zone, he could not comment on an FIR registered in any one of those stations.

He, however, said that the District Central SSP could provide more details. The SSP, Irfan Baloch, told this scribe the incident was dubbed an encounter because the victim had escaped after shooting the muggers.

Police located him after an hours-long search and still he was not willing to register a case fearing several court hearings. “Secondly, the victim told police that he was frightened that if he starts legal proceedings against the injured suspect, his companions or relatives may trace him down and kill him for revenge,” Baloch said. The SSP confirmed that the police had declared the mob lynching as a police encounter in the FIRs to save the mugging victim from any harm in the future.

This was the first incident of mobs beating up suspected robbers in this year. In 2017, five suspected robbers were killed and another was injured when they were caught red-handed looting citizens.

In May, a robber was beaten to death and another suspect severely injured by a mob when they were trying to rob a milk shop owner in Orangi Town No.1. In the same month, an alleged robber succumbed to his injuries after he was caught and beaten up by a mob as he was looting a rickshaw driver in Orangi Town No. 5.

Earlier in February 2017, two robbers were beaten to death in Landhi No. 6 when they were trying to escape after injuring two family members over resisting a robbery attempt. 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.