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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Little Ahsan was killed by police bullet, confirms forensic report

By Faraz Khan
April 20, 2019

The mystery about the killing of 19-month-old boy Ahsan Shaikh who died after being hit by a bullet in a rickshaw on Karachi’s University Road was resolved on Friday evening after the police obtained a forensic report.

The horrific incident had occurred on April 16 near Khalid Bakery located near Safora Chowrangi within the limits of the Sachal police station. Ahsan Shaikh, son of Kashif Shaikh, was hit by a single bullet in the chest and died on the spot.

The family took the child to a nearby private hospital, namely Memon Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. “Yes, ballistics cross-matching of an empty shell recovered from a crime scene has been matched with the police pistol,” confirmed District South SSP Pir Muhammad Shah, who is a on the inquiry team constituted by Additional IG Karachi Dr Amir Shaikh to probe the incident. “We are also looking for further evidences.”

Four policemen were arrested after the family of the boy claimed that he was shot and killed by the cops over their internal dispute, while rejecting the claims made by the police about an exchange of fire between the police and robbers on a tip-off provided by a citizen.

Earlier, police officials had claimed that they did not shoot the victim, but the boy was hit and killed by the robbers’ firing as they were chasing the robbers on a tip-off. But the family had refuted their claims, saying that they did not see any robber miles away and they only saw the policemen fighting each other. The family said the cops opened straight fire on them while they were sitting in a rickshaw near Khalid Bakery.

The police investigators are yet to verify the claims of the four policemen about the person who tipped them off about the presence of suspected robbers and a rickshaw driver. According to the forensic report, the bullet casing found at the crime scene has matched with a 9mm pistol of a policeman, namely Amjad Ali, who has been arrested and accused of shooting dead the boy in the lap of his father while they were riding in a rickshaw.

The family lives in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, while the victim’s father runs his own private business. The boy’s funeral prayers were offered and he was laid to rest on Wednesday.

The investigation has been transferred as Karachi police chief Dr Amir Shaikh had constituted an inquiry committee headed by DIG Counter Terrorism Department Abdullah Shaikh while District South SSP Pir Muhammad Shah is a member of the team.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sindh IGP Dr Syed Kaleem Imam had taken notice of the incident. The police registered a case of attempt to murder and ‘qatl-e-Khata’, which was opposed by the family.

This is a second major incident to have occurred in Karachi in 10 days as earlier a 10-year-old boy, Sajjad Khan, who was caught in crossfire between police and criminals in the Quaidabad area was killed on April 6, leaving so many questions about the police department’s failure to properly deal with criminals on the streets of Karachi.

Four more people -- Intizar Ahmed, Nimra Baig and Amal and Maqsood – had been killed in similar incidents.