Robber killed, accomplice injured as police foil burglary

A suspected robber was killed and his companion arrested in an injured condition in a shootout with police during a robbery at a bungalow in Nazimabad neighbourhood on Monday.

Police said a group of five robbers entered the bungalow located near Khilafat Chowk in Nazimabad within the limits of Paposh Nagar police station. Shahid Hussain, who is a property dealer in Gulshan-e-Maymar and owns the bungalow, had gone to offer the Fajr prayers when the suspects managed to enter his residence.

Seeing the robbers, Hussain’s wife, Fatima, however, immediately informed the police helpline Madadgar 15. Reacting to information, police soon arrived and cordoned off the house.

They then told the robbers to surrender, but the suspects did not surrender and remained inside the bungalow.

SHO Khalid Mughal told The News that the five men were hiding in Hussain’s car and held him hostage at gunpoint when he returned home after offering prayers.

The robbers then started looting cash, jewelry, cellphones and other valuables from the house, he said, adding that the police fired gunshots into the air, compelling the outlaws to come out of the bungalow.

“The robbers finally came out of the bungalow and tried to flee under the cover of fire,” the SHO claimed. “Two robbers were critically wounded when the police retaliated with full force.” The police arrested the injured suspects, but their three accomplices managed to escape under the cover of fire. The police shifted the injured to hospital where one of them succumbed to his injuries.

The other robber was later shifted to the police station after receiving first aid at the hospital. “I am a rickshaw driver by profession,” said the robber, who is a resident of Orangi Town. “This was for the first time that I participated in a robbery.”

He further claimed that the other four robbers were residents of Mauripur and had met him as passengers. “While travelling on my rickshaw, they became my friends and planned to loot a house,” he revealed. “We had robbed the entire house, but, unfortunately, the police arrived there.”

Police claimed to have seized two pistols and recovered the cash, jewelry and other valuables looted from the bungalow. The dead body was later shifted to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth for identification purpose. A case was registered and further investigations began.

Man found dead

An elderly man was found dead from inside his house located in Malir within the limits of Al-Falah police station.

The deceased was identified as 65-year-old Iftikharuddin Shaikh. According to SHO Khalid Nadeem, initially it seemed that the victim was killed over offering resistance to a robbing bid, but the initial investigation suggested that the victim died of heart attack when someone entered his home over some property or personal matter over which an exchange of hot words took place between them.

No stuff disappeared from the house. The officer further said that the victim died apparently due to shock, and doctors at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre confirmed that he had no mark of torture on his body, but apparently, he died of heart attack. A case has been registered and an investigation is under way.

Three passers-by hurt

Three passers-by were wounded in a firing incident that took place on II Chundrigar Road. Police officials said that the firing incident took place accidently, adding that the security guard, Abdul Haq, of a private money changer company mistakenly fired a gun while cleaning, resulting in injuries to three people who were passing by. The injured persons were immediately taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where they were later identified as Junaid Ahmed, 25, Imran Khalil, 25, and Jahanzaib Khurram, 30.

Arambagh SHO Shoaib Qureshi said that the police had arrested the security guard, Abdul Haq, who had arrived in Karachi about two months ago from rural Sindh. The officer said that the security company deployed him at a money changer company without giving him proper training to deal with firearms. A case has been registered and further investigations are under way.

Mugging bid

A 46-year-old man, Toor Khan, son of Jahan Dad Khan, was wounded in a firing incident in Janjal Goth within the limits of SITE Super highway police station.

Police officials said that the incident took place when the victim offered resistance to a robbing bid. The injured was moved to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment. Police have registered a case against unidentified persons and initiated an investigation.